Naruto: the No-Life Prince
by HellkingUzumaki
Summary: Someone tries to kill naruto by summoning an ancient demon of hell. Unfortunately said demon takes pity on Naruto and makes him heir to all the demons kingdoms and powers. The demon's name? Alucard: King of Vampires. Rated M for blood and gore.
1. Chapter 1

**Well here we are the first of the many Fanfics all the little voices in my head are telling me to write. It has taken me two months to write and a week to type but I'm finally finished. And as an added bonus the voices are leaving me alone for a bit, they are such slave drivers at times.**

**Anyway enjoy the product of my bacon and induced hallucinations.**

**Disclaime: I do not own Naruto or Hellsing. if I did I wouldn't be writing this.**

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Chapter One: The death of Naruto Uzumaki

Boom!

High above the village of Konohagakure fireworks exploded with a flash of colored light and a crash of massive sound. From the streets there were sounds of celebration and rejoicing. The village was holding a festival to honor the defeat of the mighty Kyuubi no Kitsune at the hands of the Yondaime Hokage eight years previously. For many it was a time of joy and celebration. For some though there was no joy only anger and sadness at the memories this night brought back, memories of the deaths of loved ones and friends who died at the hands of the beast. Some went so far as to seek out a target to vent their anger and sadness out on. On this night though some would go two or three steps to far on their path of vengeance.

Near the center of the village lay the great compound of the mighty Uchiha clan, one of Konoha's greatest, most powerful, and most feared clans. This clan also served as the local police force, operating out of another compound across the street. Due to the festivities the police station was ablaze with light as the police worked overtime to keep the peace. A massive festival usually involves massive amounts of alcohol. In a hidden village this added up to drunk shinobi, not a good combination. Considering the number of officers out on patrol and working in the station there shouldn't have been anyone in the clan compound itself, and yet there was a soft red glow leaking from the windows of one of the dojos.

Inside the dojo five men sat around a massive seal inscribed upon the floor. Each man sat at a corner of the pentagram that made up the majority of the seal, in front of each was a candle with a red flame and a silver stake implanted into the floor. If one looked carefully the symbols of the seal were very similar to those found on a summoning circle.

"Are you sure about this Fugaku?" whispered one of the men.

"Of course I am!" hissed another.

"But are you really sure that summoning another demon into the village is… the wisest course of action? The must be another way." said a third.

Fugaku glared at the other men in the room. "You know as well as I do that when a human summons a demon the demon must complete the task given to it by the summoner. We have tried time and time again to rid ourselves of the fox but it refuses to die, no matter what we do to it. Hell it has even resisted our strongest genjutsu without a second thought. Besides the best weapon against a demon is another, more powerful, demon. Of course once its task is complete we'll capture the thing in our seals and make it into our own personal weapon."

"We understand all of that, but …" another began.

"Enough!" Fugaku snarled as hi sharingan spun, "I am the clan head, my word is law! We begin the summoning now!"

The others slowly nodded their heads and began to build up their chakra. Once it had reached the appropriate level Fugaku nodded and they all took hold of they silver stakes in front of them. They then began to channel all of their gathered chakra through the stakes and into the massive seal. As the power within the seal built they each bit their thumbs and allowed a few drops of blood to fall onto the tope of their stakes. Fugaku watched as the last drop fell and touched its stake, as it did he felt the air around him suddenly thrummed with energy, just as the air filled with energy the seal changed. It wasn't a change that was visible to the naked eye, but rather the seal felt different to Fugaku and the other elders Previously it had felt like they were pouring their chakra like water into a massive lake,. Now though the lake was gone, in its place was a bottomless pit. No, not a pit, a mouth, a mouth that was sucking in every drop of energy in their bodies like some giant leech.

"This is it!" Fugaku snarled through clenched teeth. "Demon who lives in the beyond! Come forth! Here my call and come forth! Answer my summons and obey my command! Come forth!"

As he shouted the final line all five men shunted all the chakra they had left into the seal in one massive surge.

The effect was both instantaneous and visibly obvious. The pentagram that formed the core of the massive seal now blazed with a deep crimson light while the circular seal around it shone a resplendent white. As the men watched the crimson light slowly darkened as a circle of shadows appeared in the center. The shadowy circle grew as the crimson light died away. After a moment the pentagram was entirely covered by the circle of shadow, but when the black shadow touched the glowing ring of seals it suddenly rebounded and shrank. As it did a silhouette seemed to emerge from the very center of the circle, almost as if he was standing on a slowly rising platform. As the figure rose the shadows around it seemed to cling to it like a film of tar trying to hold something back. Finally the figure ceased to rise and the Uchiha found themselves in the presence of a being around six and a half feet in height as the white circle flickered and vanished.

Fugaku's face split in a maniacal grin. "Success! A demon of hell, come to kill the demon of our village! That damnable fox doesn't stand a chance now!" Turning to face the shadowed figure he spoke again with a commanding tone. "Demon I command you to go out and hunt down and kill the one known as the Kyuubi no Kitsune!"

Much to his surprise the towering figure didn't move an inch. However the part that appeared to be its head bent back as a deep rumble echoed around the room. The demon was laughing at them!

The gathered Uchiha's faces grew red with anger as one shouted, "How dare you laugh at us demon! We have summoned you so you must do as we say! So we command you to go and kill the Kyuubi!"

The demons rumble of laughter became a roar. It was a deep rumbling laugh that seemed to be equal parts humor and rage. The laughter rolled on and on as the Uchihas rage grew as well.

"Silence you!" Fugaku roared, "As your summoner I am your master. That means you are my slave and must do exactly as I say until our contract is fulfilled! So cease your laughter and go out and hunt down the fucking Kyuubi!"

The laughter faded into silence as the figure brought its head back up to regard the Uchiha leader.

"You seem to have quite the high opinion of yourself, human, I you believe that I am your slave." The figure said ominously, "Continuing to call me that may not be…healthy."

"Are you threatening me?" Fugaku asked sharingans blazing.

"No, not threatening, simply making a point." The figure stated calmly. "You make many demands of me as you say that since you summoned me I am bound to your will under the summoning contract. I will admit you are correct, I am bound by the contract."

"Then why do you continue to ignore our commands?!" one elder shouted.

"Be silent underling! I will not execute your commands until we have a true contract between us. We have none yet so I will do nothing."

Fugaku scoffed, "A mere formality. I summoned you, therefore I control you. It is that simple."

"Silence mortal worm, you know not of what you speak! If I do anything for you there will be a cost that must be paid in the end, or I will do nothing! However if you continue to make demands of me without asking my terms, I will simply rip you apart, consume your souls and leave." The demon snapped.

"A demon you may be, but I am the head of the mighty Uciha clan!" Fugaku announced, "I have never lost a duel and I never will, especially not to someone who hides in the shadows in fear!"

"Fear you say?" the demon commented in a rather amused tone. "Allow me to demonstrate to you all what fear truly is as I rip you apart with my bare hands!"

As the figure spoke the shadows seemed to melt away like candle wax revealing the demons true features. He wore a red trench coat with a high cowl buttoned up to conceal the lower half of his face much like an Aburame. Upon his head he wore a red fedora with a brim that was as wide as his soulders and a strip of black cloth wound around the top.

HE then reach up with a white gloved hand to undo his cowl revealing the face of a predator, angular and hard without a trace of roundness or fat. He then removed the thick red-lensed spectacles that had covered his eyes. When his eyes were revealed even Fugaku became frightened. The demons eyes were the color of freshly spilled blood, but that didn't bother them in the least. What they were afraid of wasn't the eyes but what they saw within those eyes. Those eyes revealed a being of blood and death who could and would kill them all on a whim, a true demon of the worst kind. A being who lived, breathed and thought only of death. A small smile crossed Fugaku's face.

"Now you know me, and so we begin our negotiations, but I warn you now, the task you have given me cannot be done." The demon stated flatly.

"Why? Is it that much stronger than you?!" an elder shouted.

The demon turned and glared at the man. "I believe I already made it clear I do not deign to speak with underlings! There will not be a third warning, only a death."

"Answer the question demon." Fugaku commanded.

The demon growled in his throat but answered. "You have commanded me to kill the Kyuubi no Kitsune, I am more powerful than he, however, I cannot kill him. The nine Bijuu keep your world in balance and order. To kill one of the nine would be tantamount to destroying your world. I must ask though. Why do you wish the Kyuubi dead?"

Fugaku frowned as he answered. "Eight years ago it attacked our village and killed many without any known provocation or reason. Eventually our leader managed to bind into human form using a forbidden sealing technique. Since then we have done all we can to finish the beast off, but nothing we do seems to work. Some of us got to thinking that if we couldn't kill it, then perhaps another, more powerful demon could, but as it is the strongest demon in our world we were forced to summon. So I implore you to kill it before it regains enough strength to overcome the seal and kill us all in vengeance."

"I see." The demon stated plainly. _'Kurama broke one of the laws and he hasn't come before the council? If he truly did attack without provocation he should have been tried by the council, especially if it was eight years ago. Something's not right here.' _He frowned for a moment. "I cannot kill the Kyuubi for various reasons. However if your story is true he has broken several demonic laws and I must take him back to the demon realm with me. Is that satisfactory?"

"Do whatever it is you have to do, just get that monster out of our village!" Fugaku growled.

"Very well then." With that the demon replaced his glasses and turned to leave.

"Wait! What about the contract? What is your price?" Fugaku called out nervously.

"If what you have said is true there will be no price for it is my duty to uphold the laws of my world. However if I find what you have told me to be false, the price will be your soul Fugaku Uchiha." The demon turned to leave once more.

"You know my name, but you have yet to give me yours, demon." Fugaku stated.

The demon smirked and looked over his shoulder. "Where I come from, names have power. However you may call me Alucard."

Alucard exited the Uchiha compound and looked around before taking a deep breathe through his nose. He then exhaled in a deep sigh.

'Lots of people in this city.' He thought, 'I'll need an extra set of eyes and ears for this one. Hope she's actually awake this time.'

With a few long strides he walked into a shadowed alleyway and crouched down to place his palm flat on the ground.

"Seras, Seras." He whispered intently, "Come to me, Seras. Hear the call and come forth, Seras. Seras Victoria!"

"Master was it really necessary to shout?" asked a young woman's voice. "I was trying to get my beauty sleep."

Alucard turned to face the voice's source. Standing before him was a young woman in her early twenties. She wore fingerless leather gloves and thigh high leather boots the color of dried blood. Her golden blonde hair was coaxed back into an open bun at the nape of her neck while her bangs cast long shadows over her crimson eyes. The rest was covered by a buttoned up red shirt and a red miniskirt the same color as her gloves and boots. If any one else had been around her Jacket specifically would've caught their attention. This was mostly due to the fact that the Jacket was stretched tight over a chest that would not have been out of place on an ancient fertility goddess. Taken as a whole she was the poster girl for deadly beauty.

"Don't get uppity with me girl." Alucard snarled.

Seras rolled her eyes. "Please, you only call me to join you if you need help. I figure I've earned the right to be a little uppity every once in a while considering all I've been through with you and all the years I've stuck around."

Alucard grunted before replying. "Be that as it may be, did you bring them?"

"Of course I did master, have I ever not?" Seras said defensively.

Alucards hand twitched in a 'come here' gesture. Seras sighed wearily and reached behind her and pulled out two black briefcases which she quickly handed over. Alucards hands blurred into motion as he undid the latches flipped the open and retrieved their contents. He stood up with a massive black pistol held in each hand, he gazed at them for a moment before stowing the within the folds of his coat. He turned back to Seras who was balancing an equally oversized rifle across her shoulders.

"So…who's our target?" She asked brightly.

Alucard raised an eyebrow at her cheery tone but decided not to comment. "We are to kill the Kyuubi no Kitsune's human form ."

"Okay, lets go find him!" She began to walk away but suddenly stopped and turned around to look at Alucard with a puzzled expression. "Wait a second….Kyuubi no Kitsune?" Her eyes suddenly widened in shock. "We're going after Lord Kurama? Can we even do that?"

Alucard stared at her for a moment before answering. "Of course we can't. Killing one of the Bijuu lords is to doom the world to chaos and death. All we are going to do is find him and take him back to the demon world with us. If the man who summoned me spoke truthfully, and I believe he did, Kurama attacked this village eight years ago without provocation, but was sealed into his human form."

"But, that's against the laws of the Makai!" Seras exclaimed.

"Correct, and he should have appeared before the Lords Council for trial for this years ago." Alucard replied dryly, "However the Council hasn't convened in almost a decade. That being said, Kurama is far to full of himself to run from a crime he commited, and he would never allow a human to implicate him for a crime he did not commit."

Seras touched her fingers to her chin in thought. "What if something is preventing him from doing those things?"

Alucard just stared at her again.

"What?!"

"Kurama is the greatest of the Bijuu lords. These humans may be unusually strong, but to fully suppres his power they would need something as strong, if not stronger than my limiter seal. They possess nothing even close to being that powe-" His eyes suddenly snapped wide open and his nostrils flared as he whipped his head to the side.

"Master?" Seras asked quietly, she was a little unnerved by his sudden change in countenance. "What is it?"

His eyes narrowed to their original size. "Blood, fresh blood, and lots of it."

Seras closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. As she exhaled her own eyes snapped open and her irises seemed to glow. "I've never smelled anything like this! It's mostly human but it contains more than a trace of demon. Could it be a Hanyou?"

"There is too much human for that to be a half-demon." He replied, _'But that demon smell is that of a Kitsune. That Uchiha said Kurama was bound into Human form. Like I told Seras though, this scent has far too much human in it to be a demon bound to human form. This just doesn't add up.' _He glanced back at Seras for a moment before turning and walking away in the direction of the smell. "Come we still have a job to do."

"Right, of course!" she yelled as she ran to catch up.

For the next hour the two wandered the streets of Konoha following the blood scent. Unfortunately the presence of all the humans slowed their progress towards the scents source considerably.

"Master, we've been trudging around this city for hours!" Seras whined, Can we take a break, please?"

"No."

"Oh come on! We've been looking forever and we aren't any closer to the source than we were when we started!" She exclaimed.

He abruptly turned to face her. "What's your point, Draculina?

Seras gulped, Alucard only called her Draculina when he was very, very annoyed. "Well, maybe if we stop for a bit we could…" Her head suddenly whipped to the side. "The scent, it's close!"

Alucard peered over the rim of his glasses as he spoke. "Really? How…fortuitous. Fine, no more walking and searching like humans. Seras, take to the skies and find the source. Once you have, find a good position and wait for me."

"Sir, yes sir, my master!" Seras replied in a dark tone.

She knelt down on the street as her left arm began to blur and shift. After a moment her arm had completely disappeared in its place was a pair of black bat-like wings with red outlines. The wings twitched once sending her rocketing into the sky at incredible speed leaving behind only a thin red streak in her wake. Alucard watched her fly for a moment before turning and walking into a buildings shadow which seemed to swallow him.

High above Seras relished the feeling of the wind on her face as she raced through the sky at almost the speed of sound.

'_Focus ma Cherie.'_ said a calm voice in her head.

She mentally sighed. _'I know how to do my job! I don't need help from the pervert gallery!'_

'_Vell, excusei moi! I vas just trying to offer you zome advice.'_

'_The last time you offered some advice you were advising me to kiss a girl in the middle of the throne room!'_ she mentally shouted.

'_It vould haf been a nice show.'_ The voice responded teasingly.

'_Maybe for you captain Bernadette but not for me.!'_

'_Iz not my fault! I only got vone kiss from you . I haf to get my kicks in somevere.'_ replied the spiritual mercenary.

'_I know.'_ Seras responded sadly.

Silence reigned in the young woman's head foe a few moments before she noticed something odd.

'_Bernadette?'_ she mentally questioned.

'_Oui ma cherie?'_

'_Is it just me, or does the blood scent seem to be, moving?'_ she asked.

Bernadette was quiet for a moment while he checked the information from her senses.

'_You vere correct, it iz moving, razer qvickly I might add. Dis vould explain vy you and Alucard vere having such a problem tracking it down.'_ Her familiar replied_, 'That said, I believe it iz just ahead in zat little sqvare.'_

'_Thank you for telling me I'm not crazy.'_ She thought with a smirk.

'_You do realize you just said zat to a voice in your head zat only you can hear right?'_ Bernadette commented with a laugh.

Seras grumbled to herself as her flight quickly became a dive dropping her down on to a nearby roof. Returning her arm to its more natural shape she unslung her rifle as she cautiously approached the roofs edge. She laid down and set up her rifle in a sniper position, this took a total of about half a second. Once she was in position she scanned the crowd that seemed to have gathered in one corner of the square as she tried to locate the source of the demon-tainted blood. When she did find the source a feeling of revulsion rose in her throat.

She felt Alucards presence appear behind her as she looked at their target.

"Master, I believe that someone may have given us the wrong target." She hissed.

Alucard looked at over the crowd. "Indeed."

With her vampiric third eye Seras examined their supposed target. It was a young boy no more than seven or eight years old. He had spiky blonde hair and cerulean blue eyes as well as three thin black lines on each cheek. He wore a faded black tee-shirt and a pair of heavily worn tan shorts. He was covered in dirt, filth and had the thin bony look of domeone who doesn't get nearly enough to eat.

All of those things were secondary details to them though. What held the two bloodthirsty vampires still in rage was the people gathered around the boy. Around forty people were gathered around the boy forming a living wall between him and the rest of the square. Many of the people were throwing rocks, garbage or anything they could find at the boys huddled figure. Others carried knives or improvised clubs in case the boy tried to run away. From the number of cuts, bruises and contusions visible on the boys shaking body, it was obvious this abuse had been going on for some time.

"I guess they did bind lord Kurama into human form, and into a childs form no less." Seras commented in a tone halfway between pity and amusement.

"No Seras, they didn't bind Kurama into human form at all." Alucard stated with a creeping anger in his voice.

"That's not lord Kurama?" Seras asked sounding very confused.

"No that's not even a demon, that's a human, a Jinchurikki." Alucard snarled with barely controlled rage.

"Humanity possess no seal powerful enough to hold back Kurama forever. However they do have a container that can grow and adapt to anything they hold, their own bodies." He snarled as he attempted to force his anger down.

"They seal demons into their own bodies? But demon energy kills any human who tries to wield it!" Seras exclaimed.

Alucard looked down at the crowd gathered together in the square below them. "True, however if a demons soul is extracted it can be placed into the body of a newborn. Then as the child grows its body adapts to the demons presence building up an immunity to the demonic energy allowing me them to wield it as their own. Because of the demon they contain they are often treated poorly." His voice became a deep snarl, "But, this, this thing happening before us is beyond anything I have ever even heard of! No child, no matter what may make them different, should endure this kind of abuse! This is the work of true monsters!"

"We can't help him master. We would have to fight the humans attacking him to do so. Doing so we would break the Makai laws and become just as wanted as Kurama is! Until we have a provocation we can't help him!" Seras cried out in anguish.

"But we aren't going to help the human boy." Alucard responded with his signature psychotic grin plastered across his face. "We are going to go and assist lord Kurama. We can't help the boy, but we mustn't allow a fellow demon lord to be killed by a mere human mob now can we? Now, come, we have a demon lord and his vessel to save."

Seras smiled as she rose from the roof. "Of course, my master."

Down in the square the beating continued as stones and bricks continued to rain down on the boys huddled figure.

"Get out of our village, demon!" shouted one member of the mob.

"Die you filthy monster!" called out another.

"Come on guys, lets finish this once and for all!" yelled a third.

The boy cracked open one eye to see four large men walking towards him with long knives and horrifying grins.

_'Help me!'_ the boy cried out mentally, _'Somebody, please! Jiji-san, Inu-san, anybody!'_

Seeing no one coming to help he closed his eye again as the men continued to advance. He just waited for the pain to begin again, but it never did. Instead of the men's cruel laughter he heard four loud bangs like large firecrackers followed by four 'thuds' and a chorus of outrage from the mob.

He cracked his eye back open to see a young woman in dark red clothes crouched defensively between him and the crowd. Slightly in front of her was a tall man in a long red coat and a wide red hat. In front of him were four mangled corpses.

"Who… who are you?" the boy whispered.

The woman looked over her shoulder and smiled with her eyes closed. "My name is Seras Victoria little one, I'm here to help." She replied sweetly.

The boys face brightened as he asked, "Did Jiji-san send you?"

She hesitated for a moment, she didn't want to upset the boy but she really didn't want to lie to him either. "Yeah, your Jiji sent us to help you."

The boy was about to ask another question but Alucard cut him off. "Seras, how is he holding up over there?"

A pained expression crossed the woman's face as she turned back to her master. "Not good master. He has multiple compound fractures and heavy internal bleeding."

Alucard looked over his shoulder at her. "Take the boy far from here. Find somewhere safe and stay there until I arrive."

"Yes master." She said as she gathered the boy up in her arms and cradled him against her chest. "What are you going to do?"

Alucard's face split as a psychotic grin appeared displaying a horrifying array of fangs. "I will be demonstrating to these, people, the power of a true demonic monster!"

She smiled a little, "Of course master, don't take too long, I'll be awaiting your arrival." With that said she flexed her legs and shot thirty feet into the air and landed on the roof of a nearby building.

"Hey! You in the coat!" shouted a member of the mob.

Alucard turned to face them with a blank expression.

"Yeah you! What the hell do you think you're doing you friggin idiot!" shouted the mob member again.

"Where's that girl taking the demon? asked another.

"Silence fools!" Alucard barked, "We haven't done anything to any demon, we have saved an innocent child from your…tender cares."

"Innocent child?! That was no innocent kid! That's the nine-tailed demon fox!" someone retorted.

"We're going to avenge all those it killed by killing it! That way they'll rest in peace!" called out another.

"Yeah this is justice, who the hell are you to prevent that?" yelled a third.

"I am one who knows and understands true justice." Alucard replied quietly.

"You killed five innocent men who were about to kill a demon! How the hell is that justice you demon lover!" came the reply.

"They meant to harm an innocent. Thus I eliminated them to protect the innocent, it is that simple."

"Someone just kill this asshole so we can go and hunt down the Kyuubi and this guys bitch!"

In response to that shout a Kunai flew out of the crowd striking Alucard in the frhead with a sickening 'thock'. The handle quickly began to smoke and the weapon suddenly exploded due to the exploding tag wrapped around the handle. The resulting explosion blew the old vampires head apart in a cloud of red mist and white ships.

Seeing that Alucard was apparently dead somebody began to organize the mob. "alright everybody split up and look for the demon and that blonde bitch!"

"That was impressive…for a dog." said a deep and ominous voice.

The crowd watched in horrified fascination as Alucards body stood back up. Then the shattered pieces of his head seemed to liquefy. The resulting black liquid streamed through the air to form a sphere where his head was. The sphere then proceeded to slowly shift and change until it became Alucards head once more complete with his hat and glasses.

"You've got a nasty bite…dog. But a dog can't kill me, it takes a man to kill a monster. You said you were trying to kill a demon?" He opened his crimson eyes and stared at them all as his eyes seemed to glow. "Try killing a real one!"

He lifted his hands before him forming a rectangle with his thumbs and forefingers. Out in the crowd several pairs of eyes suddenly turned red with two or three black comma marks surrounding the pupils. Those who carried the eyes all had the same idea, to copy any new jutsu they see to become more powerful. As they watched Alucard brought the rectangle up to his left eye.

"Releasing control art restrictions, level 3, level 2, level one. Situation A recognized, the Cromwell approval is now in effect. Hold release until targets are silenced." He said slowly as if in a trance.

Massive black masses suddenly shot from his back. The masses then began to twist, bend and warp until he stood with four extra pairs of arms sprouting from his back.

The Uchihas who had attempted to use their sharingans on him were not aware of this development though. They were focusing on the fact that they had learned nothing after watching Alucard, meaning that either what he had done was either a Kekkai Genkai or it wasn't a jutsu at all. Many were so caught up in trying to understand why their sharingans had failed that they didn't notice their deaths coming at them until they died.

The moment Alucards extra arms had finished forming they had shot forward and grabbed the heads of the people nearest him. He pulled them close and then rapidly dispatched each with a hand through their hearts. Dropping the corpses the arms shot forward once more. This time though they didn't grab anyone, instead they flailed about, slicing and stabbing at anyone they found.

The whirlwind of death soon subsided leaving only a handful of shinobi still standing. Seeing this Alucard smiled and returned his extra arms to the shadows from which he created them. Reaching into the folds of his coat he drew forth his trusty pistols Jackal and Vulture. Jackal of course was the massive black pistol designed for him long ago by Walter C. Dornez. Vulture was an exact copy but had a slightly larger magazine. Seeing such strange implements several of the shinobi stopped and stared. All they saw though was Vultures muzzle flash twice and the Jackals once before three lifeless bodies hit the ground with charred and smoking holes where their chests once were.

Seeing their comrades die in such a way the remaining shinobi scattered and ran as fast as they could, to Alucards vampiric senses though they were moving at a snail's pace. It was child's play to bring down two more of the fleeing shinobi; one was missing his head while the other was blown entirely in half. Both wounds were testament to the power contained within the guns 13mm high explosive armor piercing rounds. In the space of the next ten seconds the guns barked five more times and five more shinobi corpses hit the ground in varying states of dismemberment. The last two though he let escape as they would alert the authorities and bring more lambs to the slaughter. He stood still for a moment as his body absorbed all the spilled blood like a sponge. Once he felt sure that he had not wasted a single drop of the precious liquid he stepped into the shadow of a lamppost and disappeared.

A second later he reemerged from the shadow of an ancient oak tree in one of Konoha's public parks. Nearby Seras was kneeling by the boy's side in the lee of a massive boulder. As he approached she stood, turned and bowed.

"You're here faster than I expected master." She commented quietly.

"They were far weaker than I had hoped." Alucard retorted, "How is the boy?"

She shook her head as she knelt back down beside the boy's unconscious body. "Not so good and getting worse. It appears that Lord Kuramas energy normally heals the boy, but this time his body has just taken too much damage. Kurama is pumping extra energy into the boy's body to heal him, but he can't handle it. The demon energy is ripping his body apart even as it is healed. He also told me his name, its Naruto Uzumaki."

"So the same power that would normally save him is now killing him. Well that is a problem if we want him alive." Alucard commented almost sadly. "Will he live?"

"No." Seras answered after a moment. "He won't survive the night. In fact it's a miracle he's not dead already."

"What a waste." Alucard snorted.

"Master?" asked Seras cautiously, "Why do you seem to care about Naruto's fate so much? I've never seen you act like this and it's honestly creeping me out."

Alucard made no motion that he had heard her question and instead just gazed at the moon. After a minute or two of this he finally answered. "He reminds me of myself in a way. We wish to do all we can to prove others wrong about us, and we will never give up unless we're dead."

"Oh, I didn't know." Seras muttered apologetically.

Alucard inclined his head a little. "Neither did I, until just a moment ago anyway. Beyond what I already said though, that boy is a fighter through and through. I can see the fires of determination in his eyes. If he had lived he would have been a Man amongst men, one who could kill a monster."

Seras looked back down at Naruto. "But master, what are we going to do? You swore that we would take Lord Kurama back to the demon world with us, but if we do that the worlds energy will kill Naruto, and by extension, Lord Kurama"

A strange glint appeared in the ancient vampire's eye. "Pick him up and come with me." He replied as he walked away.

"Where are we going master?" she asked as she settled Naruto onto her back.

"His home, he will need a few things if he is to live with uscomfortably." Alucard answered without stopping.

Seras almost dropped Naruto due to the shock she felt hearing her master say that. "What? Master, could you repeat what you just said, cause it sounded like you said he was going to be living with us."

Alucard didn't pause. "You heard correctly."

Again she almost dropped Naruto. "But Master, Naruto is human; he won't survive in our world for long!" She then thought for a second and gasped as she realized her master's plan. "You don't mean you're planning on turning him, are you?"

He just looked back at her and grinned.

"Master!" she groaned, "You promised the council of clans that I would be your last Childe!"

"You are correct I did promise." He retorted as he began to walk up the stairs to Naruto's apartment. "However I am bound by my honor as a demon to complete the task given to me by the summoner. Yet I cannot do so if the boy remains human, for he would die. So I must break a promise and change him so that I may complete my task." He quickly kicked down Naruto's door before turning and going back down the stairs. "Grab all you can and make a portal home. I have some things that need doing before we leave."

He then disappeared out of the building and out in to the street. Outside of the apartment building he found six shinobi wearing similar armor and white ceramic masks with the faces of animals on them.

The bear masked one spoke first. "Identify yourself and your village of origin."

'Rabbit' spoke next. "Be aware that your actions tonight are tantamount to a declararion of war by your village."

Alucard peered at the ANBU over the rims of his glasses. "I am called Alucard, and I do not come from one of your pathetic ninja villages."

'Owl' replied, "Then as a wandering-nin you are under arrest for the murder of twenty-seven civilians and seventeen shinobi of Konohagakure. Will you come quietly or will we be forced to subdue you and take you to the Torture and Interrogation unit?"

"Your laws don't apply to me, dogs." Alucards eyes widened as he spoke. "You lack the power to face me, worms. Soldiers, you've done your job well, now take your eternal rest."

Hearing his obviously violent reply the ANBU drew their swords and charged. Alucard just stood still and waited as his prey approached. 'Rat' was first to attack only to find that his swing missed as Alucard ducked beneath what would have been a decapitation strike. In response the vampires arm blurred with speed, turning a simple arm chop into a strike that split the rodent masked ANBU from head to toe. 'Falcon' struck next throwing a huge barrage of shuriken only to have them pass through their target like he was a liquid. Suddenly many of the shuriken came hurtling back and ripped 'falcon' apart. Seeing his teammates weapons fail 'Bear tried an earth jutsu only to have Alucard disappear only to reappear as his fangs ripped into 'Rabbits' throat.

Seeing an opportunity for reprieve the remaining ANBU jumped up to the relative safety of the rooftop. Alucard stood and watched them go as he slowly drained 'Rabbits' corpse.

"What's with this guy?" whispered 'Bear, "How the hell is he moving that fast?

"I believe he's using some sort of jutsu." 'Weasel' quietly replied.

"What makes you say that?" 'Owl asked.

"When I watch him move, his legs don't." 'Weasel' answered, "Actually it almost looks as if he isn't running, more like he just disappears and then instantly reappears, much like the Yondaimes flying thunder god technique."

"Ok, here's the plan. Owl use your Static Cloud to paralyze him. I'll use Doryuu Taiga to trap him and Weasel will bring him down with a genjutsu."

The other two ANBU nodded. The three then leapt back down to the street. Surprisingly their opponent was nowhere to be found, neither were the bodies of their comrades.

"What the hell?!" shouted 'Bear'.

'Owl walked over to the mouth of an alleyway and peered into the shadows. As he turned away he felt a light tap on his chest, but thought nothing of it. He began to walk away but collapsed in a pool of his own blood which was rapidly pouring from a hole in his chest where his heart had been. He tried to call out to his companions but felt death overtake him.

'Bear' saw his teammate collapse and ran to help. Before he had taken three steps he saw a flash of red and black. He came to a halt as he felt a strange sensation, like hundreds of little wires laying against his skin. He lifted his hand up to inspect it only to watch in horror as he fell apart piece by piece from huge cuts that appeared on his skin. His last sight was 'Weasel' removing his mask.

'Weasel' dropped his mask to the ground and faced Alucard slipping into his combat stance and tightening his grip on his sword.

With his sharingans blazing with fury he spoke. "Give up hope of victory. You face an Uchiha now, and I have never been defeated!"

Alucards grin only widened in response. "Excellent! Excellent! Now I cann exact my price from your pitiful clan!"

'Weasel' frowned as he thought. _'He's to fast for ninjutsu,to strong for taijutsu or kenjutsu, I believe this will be an excellent time to test my new eyes. Let's see how he deals with Tsukiyomi!' _He shunted more chakra to his eyes activating the next level of his sharingan and causing the three Tomoes to warp until the formed a tri-bladed shuriken.

"This battle is over demon!" he shouted as he readied his ultimate genjutsu. "Tsukiyomi!"

Alucards vision went black for a moment. When his vision returned he found himself in a world of darkness crucified on a wooden pole. Around him stood a hundred images of 'Weasel', each holding a wickedly sharp sword.

"Welcome to my nightmare world." Said one as it approached. "This is my world and for the next seventy-two hours I will be torturing you in here as your body will be imprisoned behind seals not even the Kyuubi could escape."

"Really? Is that all?" drawled the ancient vampire in a bored tone. "How disappointing, yet another who I thought to be a man, turns out to be no more than someone's pet. How disappointing indeed."

With a casual flick of his wrist Alucard shattered the chains binding him to the pole.

'Weasel's eyes widened. "That's impossible! No one can escape the Tsukiyomi, it's our clans ultimate genjutsu."

"If this is your ultimate illusion than your clan is far weaker than I thought." Alucard removed his glasses and met his opponents eyes. "Now see the power of a true illusion, Itachi Uchiha!"

Alucards eyes flashed for a moment as all but one of the images disappeared and the one who remained fell to his knees.

Alucards grin of fangs appeared again. "Hear this and obey, you mortal worm! In the near future you will slaughter your family, when you do so you will carve an upside down cross in to their corpses. When you kill your dear father, whisper into his ear 'Thus is your price to the demon paid. Thus is our dark contract fulfilled.' Once your task is done your mind will be your own once more, and you will walk the world with the burden of your actions. This is the preice I take for you and your clans arrogance! Now release this illusion!"

Itachis eyes closed and the real world returned. When they had fully returned Itachi slumped to the ground unconscious. The air then thrummed with energy indicating that Seras had opened the portal.

'_Seras'_ he called telepathically.

'_Yes master?'_ she replied.

'_Go through with the boy. Take him into the throne room and lay him upon the great seal. It will protect him from our worlds energy until I join you.'_ He commanded.

'_As you say master.'_ She replied as she stepped into the dark portal and broke the connection.

Alucard meanwhile was watching intently as a group of around twenty shinobi ran down the street towards him. All but one wore the white ceramic masks of the ANBU. The one who didn't wore a black bodysuit with armor on his shoulders, thighs, forearms, and shins. A massive thick staff lay across one shoulder and an armored helm sat upon his head. He had a pointed white goatee and many age and worry lines that revealed his age. The group came to a halt just a few feet before the vampire.

The old man took two steps forward to speak but Alucard cut him off by bowing deeply and removing his hat. "Greetings Hiruzen Sarutobi, third Lord Hokage of Konohagakure. It is an honor to make your acquaintance." Alucard could see Sarutobi was old but he felt an aura of strength and power around him. Much like that of a certain butler he had known many years before.

The Hokage seemed taken aback by the vampires polite greeting. "I am sorry to say I cannot return you kind greeting. I don't know your name and haven't come to exchange pleasantries."

"Right to the point then?" Alucard said easily as he shrugged. "You may call me Alucard. Now what was it you wished to speak of?"

"I wish to ask you why have killed so many civilians and shinobi of this village tonight." Asked the Hokage as he narrowed his eyes.

"It needed to be done." Alucard answered calmly. "I found them grouped around a young child. While I understand corporeal punishment I do not believe it is necessary to gather a mob just to beat one child. The only other reason I can think of for what they were doing is that they were attempting to kill the boy, and no adult should ever harm a child in cold blood. Only a monster could bring themselves to do such a thing."

"I see." Replied the Hokage tiredly. "In that case why did you kill this ANBU patrol and where is the child you saved?"

"These ANBU attacked me when I refused arrest. They were charging me with the murder of a number of your shinobi and civilians." Alucard replied flatly, "I do not believe that killing those who would harm innocents is a crime, most people call it, justice."

The Hokage waited for Alucard to continue but eventually spoke when it became clear the vampire had said his part. "What of my second question? Where is Naruto Uzumaki?"

"Dead." Replied the old vampire like it was the simplest thing in the world.

An ANBU wearing a dog mask with spiky silver hair hissed in anger. "So after going and saving the boy from a mob the demon decided to kill him. Hypocrite. Couldn't you at least wait until he sa-"

Alucards eyes narrowed in anger as he glared at the dog masked ANBU. Around him the street lights seemed to dim while the shadows of the night stretched out towards him. His face was swallowed by shadowed but his eyes continued to burn a terrible crimson. An aura of fear and horror crashed down until the assemble shinobi driving several to their knees with its speed and intensity.

He then spoke with a voice deep enough to rattle the shinobi's bones. **"A demon I may be, mortal, but I do not harm Humans without reason, and I would never fall so low as to harm a child of any kind! Only Humans are capable of such depravity!"**

His eyes returned to normal as he lifted his aura from his surroundings. The Hokage still stood tall as he addressed Alucard directly.

"I apologize for my subordinates remarks Alucard-san." Said the Hokage peaceably. "However if you would be so kind as to tell us the location of Naruto's body you may go free. It would appear my shinobi were in the wrong this time."

"I would tell you where his body is but I am afraid he is using it at the moment." Alucard said with a smirk.

"How does that work since you just told us he was dead?" asked the dog ANBU.

"The boy did die, but using my abilities I will bring him back as a demon. As such I had my servant take him to our home within the underworld." Alucard stated.

"Will you let him return here one day?" asked the old man hopefully.

"If he should wish it, yes." Alucard turned to walk into a shadow but stopped and turned to say one last thing. "I will say this though, should he wish to return, it will not be Naruto Uzumaki who will return for that boy died this night. The one who will return will be Naruto Tepes, the No-Life Prince! This I swear upon my honor as the No-Life King." With that he stepped into the shadows and vanished.

The Hokage stared into the shadow for a moment before turning and addressing his ANBU escort. "Get this all cleaned up. Inu, I have a job for you."

"Yes Lord Hokage?"

"Go and talk to Inoichi. Ask him to go through our ancient scrolls on demons and see if he can find anything about this, No-Life King."

"Of course Lord Hokage." Inu said as he leapt away.

The Hokage looked up at the stars and thought. _'Naruto, wherever you are. I wish you all the happiness you should have found here. Live a good life, but come back here some day."_

* * *

**Ta-Da and that's a wrap for the first chapter of the No-Life Prince! Gee that wasn't so hard. (Passes out from exhaustion and lack of bacon.)**

**Unless I run out of bacon or again the next chapter should be out in about a week or so. My little voices are running me ragged here**

**OH GOD THEIR COMING FOR ME! I'M OUTTA HERE!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Oh my god my fingers hurt so bad. Seriously after seeing how many people checked this story out I just couldn't stop typing until I got this out. Annoyingly the little voices kept telling me to go faster but I'm used to ignoring them. The one with the sword is hard to just brush off**

**To everyone he kept commenting that Naruto can't be turned by Alucard since they are both guys here is my answer.**

**1\. Alucard is the king of vampires, he can do whatever he**

**2\. If Seres changed Naruto he would be Seras's heir, which is to say he would get**

**3\. I never liked the whole opposite sex thing anyway. Think about it, that would me that each generation would be made up of entirely one sex or the**

**4\. My story my rules.**

**DBlade49: Yes, Naruto will get a gun but it won't be revolvers. His gun will be a very special rifle. Its initials are C.R.. If you can guess what it is, let me know. Sorry no sword. I do like the idea of getting Kekkai Genkais from blood though.**

**Anyway, enjoy the product of my Mountain Dew and cheese induced hallucinations.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Hellsing. If I did Naruto would wear something beside orange and Schrodinger wouldn't die.**

* * *

Chapter Two: The New Naruto

Alucard emerged from the shadow of a huge boulder and looked around at his home. The underworld was not a cheery place by any means, but he had always liked it. The sky continuously glowed a somber red as if the sun had only just set and its last rays still colored the sky. The ground was carpeted by a layer of thick, short tan grass interspersed with large purplish granite boulders that seemed to have been thrust up from below. Just ahead of him Rose a enormous hill formed by a single massive knuckle of stone jutted over two thousand feet into the air from the otherwise flat plain like a great dark tower. At the base of this hill though rose great walls of stone, and within the walls and upon the hill was a city.

As with all things in the underworld this was no ordinary city. This was the grand city of Shadowfang. The one and only city that was populated entirely by vampires and it was their capital, the center of the vampiric kingdom. Its walls were sixty feet high, twenty feet thick and were made of solid underworld obsidian, a material second in strength only to celestial marble. Within those mighty buttresses lived almost twenty five thousand vampires, many of whom chose not to drink human blood. Even so it was considered to be one of, if not the most dangerous populated area in the entirety of the underworld, and many believed that any non-vampire who entered was, for all intents and purposes, committing suicide.

Slightly above the city proper stood a slightly smaller, yet no less impressive set of walls. These stood one hundred feet in height and were almost forty feet thick. Within this second ring of walls stood the great mansions and manors of the older and more powerful members of the vampiric race. Many of whom were well over a thousand years old but still had the power to rip a Kage in half without breaking a sweat.

At the crest of the hill stood a third set of walls. These massive fortifications were one hundred fifty feet tall and easily sixty feet thick. Behind those walls though there were no home, no great manors or mansions, for only two beings resided within. Rising above the crest of the wall were two great towers thrusting three hundred feet into the sky from the crown of the hill. They were the towers of the fang, and they rose from the roof of the palace of the vampire king, the great structure known as Blood-Borne Hall.

The hall itself stood almost two hundred feet high and was built like an enormous gothic cathedral made from shadows. Massive flying buttresses of black stone and engraved with demonic runes supported the massive structure while great enchanted granite gargoyles kept watch from their perches. It was the second largest structure in the entirety of the underworld. Only the palace of King Yama, god of the dead, was larger. More importantly it was Alucards domain, his home and the location of his final resting place.

With an appreciative smile Alucard once more stepped into the shadows and vanished. Moments later he reappeared from the shadow of a column within the throne room of his great palace. The room itself was easily the size of a football field with second floor balconies on three sides. On the fourth side was an enormous half dome and a similarly sized red glass window. Both looked over a raised platform on which sat a throne carved from midnight black stone gilt with silver, gold, rubies and diamonds. It was his throne, the throne of the No-Life King. Set into the floor in front of the platform was a large silver circle containing a thirteen pointed star. In the stars center laid Naruto's unconscious form while Seras knelt just outside the rings edge.

"Does his heart still beat?" the ancient vampire asked suddenly.

Seras jumped up in surprise and shock. "Master, I didn't sense your arrival! His heart still beats, though I am at a loss as to how. His body has taken far more damage internally than I thought to be possible while still living."

Alucard smirked, "He hasn't given up, even after all he has suffered. He truly would've made a fine man. Now let us see if he is willing to trade it for another chance at life?"

As he spoke he passed into the silver circle, immediately he felt incredibly weak. The circle was designed to weaken vampires or any other supernatural being by locking almost all forms of energy outside it's protective circle. Alucard only kept any of his power due to the immense amount he possessed. Had any other vampire, even Seras, entered they would have been rendered all but powerless in an instant, but that of course was why Naruto still lived.

The ancient king knelt down beside Naruto and roughly shook him awake.

Naruto's cerulean blue eyes opened slowly as he returned to consciousness. Once he had his gaze became fixed upon the being kneeling at his side. "You're… you're the one that rescued me." He said weakly.

"Indeed I did."

The blue eyes darted around before the winced shut. "I don't recognize this place, where am I?"

Alucard calmly replied, "You are lying in the throne room of my palace, which stands in the underworld city of Shadowfang."

"The underworld!? You mean I'm dead!" Naruto shouted only to then curl up into the fetal position as pain wracked his body.

"No you are not dead. At least, not yet." Alucard stated harshly, "However the pain you are currently experiencing exists because you are dying, and there is nothing anyone can do about it. One way or another you will die tonight. That being the case I have a way to make it so that death will not be your end."

"What do you (ungh) mean?" Naruto asked as another wave of pain coursed through him.

Alucard looked at him with steely eyes. "I can save you, but I cannot prevent your death. This gift of life after death comes at a great price though and I must know, do you truly wish to continue to live? No matter what the cost may be?"

Naruto's eyes widened in shock when he heard Alucard's question. He tried to block out the pain for a moment to think about his answer but the pain was growing and was to great to block out entirely. He then looked up at Alucard once more with his pain filled eyes, this time though there was also the fire of determination in their blue depths. "I want to live. I swore that one day I would be Hokage and I refuse to let death or anything else prevent me from attaining my dream!"

Alucard grinned evilly as he heard Naruto's answer. "Very well boy. Never forget that you made this choice of your own free will, never regret it. For the day you regret this choice will be the day you die. I should warn you; this is going to hurt like hell." He opened his mouth as wide as it would physically go as his fangs emerged. His head the shot down before his mouth clamped down on Naruto's shoulder.

For Naruto he felt a light stinging sensation in his shoulder where Alucard was biting him. Then it seemed like every nerve in his body screamed out at once in absolute agony. His vision swam as dark spots appeared before finally succumbing to the pain and blacking out.

Naruto awoke in a dark room lying in a puddle of water; at least he hoped it was water. H e groggily looked around trying to figure out where he was now. Looking in front of himself he saw an enormous golden gate with a slip of paper with the kanji for seal on it where the locking mechanism would normally be. Picking himself up he cautiously approached the gate only to jump back as several enormous red claws shot out from the spaces between the bars of the gate.

"**Damn, I missed. You're faster than I expected you little brat."** said a deep and echoing voice.

"What the hell!" Naruto shouted.

An enormous pair of blood red eyes suddenly appeared behind the gate. Naruto shivered at the anger and hate he could see in those crimson depths.

"**So you finally made it here. Well it's about time, I was getting bored and I always have enjoyed a good evisceration show." **growled the voice.

"Who the hell are you bastard?" Naruto said as he continued to shout.

Suddenly the other side of the gate was illuminated revealing a giant red-furred fox with nine tails waving in the air behind him.** "I am the Kyuubi no Kitsune, lord of the demon-fox clan and mightiest of the nine beast lords!"** the fox roared out.

"What?" exclaimed the blonde, "But you're dead! The Yondaime Hokage killed you years ago when you attacked the village!"

"**Arrogant human, no mortal could ever hope to kill me!" **the Kyuubi roared, **"Your fool of a Hokage sealed me inside your soul believing that I would be imprisoned forever!"**

"So you're the reason everybody hates me! All those people who tried to kill or hurt me, all those times I had to hide on my birthday so I wouldn't get killed, that was all your fault! I hate you!" Naruto screamed with all the venom he could muster.

"**So what if you hate me. You are just a little snot-nosed brat of a human, and I am one of the mightiest demons to ever step on the surface of your pitiful world, you don't scare me." **The fox replied with a chuckle.

"Well I'm not afraid of you either you nine-tailed bastard! You can't do anything to me so long as that seal is there!" Naruto stated angrily.

"**Are you referring to ****this****?" **laughed the fox.

Naruto stared at the fox in confusion for a moment before he became aware of a quiet hissing noise. His eyes then darted to the paper on the fox's gate, it was slowly burning. As he watched with a horrified expression the paper suddenly ignited and turned to ash.

With terrifying suddenness the demon fox smashed the gates open with a flick of his paw. He slowly emerged and leisurely stretched himself out as if he had all the time in the world. He then turned his bloody red gaze onto Naruto.

"**Any last words?"** he taunted.

"Yeah, I'm gonna give you a really bad case of heartburn you asshole." Naruto replied with a defiant smirk.

The fox narrowed his eyes and lunged with his jaws agape. An instant before Naruto would have become the fox's not-so-happy-meal an enormous blade of shadow slammed into the foxes side throwing him across the room.

"Even after all these years you're still just a beast at heart. What a pity, I hate putting down beasts." commented a deep, rich voice.

Naruto spun around to see a man emerging from the wall like a ghost. The man wore steel armor of some kind over most of his body and a straight sword hung at his waist. A tattered black cape hung from his shoulders while wild black hair framed a heavy face and tumbled down to his shoulders. A black mustache and goatee framed his small smirk.

"**Tepes."** The fox said spitting out the word like a sour candy. **"What are you doing here, and how did you get in the boys mind?"**

The man's smirk became a wide grin. "What? No friendly greeting from my long lost partner? And here I was thinking we were friends."

"**I was never your friend you annoying bloodsucker, I was only ever your business partner, and that was years ago." **scoffed the demon fox. **"Now tell me what the hell you're doing here, if you hadn't noticed I'm in the middle of lunch!"**

The man's eyes widened and his grin went from happy to psychotic in an instant. "I am simply protecting my newest fledgling of course. Why else would I ever enter a place such as this?"

"**You didn't, you wouldn't dare turn my jinchurikki into one of you freaks!" **the fox snarled with a hint of fear.

"On the contrary, I would dare and I have! Welcome to the un-life of a familiar Kurama, I do hope you hate it." The man said as his expression became completely insane.

Deciding that he didn't understand anything of what was going on Naruto surrendered to exhaustion a heard no more.

* * *

(Meanwhile, back in Konoha, one day after Naruto's disappearance…)

The third Hokage was, as usual, sitting behind his desk madly trying to complete all the paperwork stacked up upon his desk. He was fighting a losing battle but he refused to be defeated by anything but an enemy shinobi. Luckily for him he heard a knock on his office door.

"Come in." he said without looking up from the form he was working on. It was yet another attempt by Danzo to restart the ROOT program.

An ANBU agent in an Inu mask entered the office clutching a file folder in one hand and quietly closing the door behind him with the other before approaching the Hokage's desk. He waited for a brief time as the older man finished the form. The Hokage then finally looked up at the agent.

"Ah Inu, I take it you and Inoichi were successful in your search?" asked the old man hopefully.

The ANBU nodded an affirmative but said nothing. The Hokage waited for a moment before sighing and standing up. He proceeded to the windows and lightly bit his thumb before smearing the resulting drop of blood onto the window pane. As he did there was a slight pulse of energy as the windows darkened and several previously invisible seal appeared around the room. Nodding to himself the Hokage returned to his seat.

"Thank you lord Hokage." Said the ANBU as he reached up and removed his mask.

"It's no problem Kakashi. I of all people understand the value of secrecy. Now what did you find?" replied the older shinobi as he leaned forward to rest his head upon his hands.

Kakashi opened the folder and spread its contents onto the desktop as he sat down across from his leader. "Nothing really specific, but we did gather enough information from various places that between myself, Inoichi and Shikaku Nara we came up with a couple of pretty good theories."

The Hokage steepled his fingers in front of his face. "Show me what you found first, and then give me your theories."

Kakashi nodded and then rifled through the papers on the desk until he found the one he was looking for, it was a worn piece of parchment, yellowed with age. He quickly handed across the desk. "This is a copy of a page from a scroll from before Konoha's founding that we found deep in the Shodaime's catacombs beneath the Senju compound. It lists all of the known demon lords of the underworld. The piece you hold in your hands says this; Bahamut-Dragon king and lord of serpents: Chomei- Lord of beetles and forests, seventh of the nine: Gyuki- Lord of oxen and the plains, eighth of the nine: Draquithar- the No-Life King and lord of the fanged ones. In other parts of the manuscript we found a total of thirteen other names with an addendum that read; servant to the No-Life King. The fact that multiple other demonic lords are his servants indicates that he is in the upper echelons of the demonic hierarchy and that he must wield incredible power."

"I do believe he demonstrated some of that power to us when we encountered him on the street." the Hokage joked. "All jokes aside though, what of these fanged ones? Do we know who they are?"

"I believe we do my lord, but I'll get to that in a minute." answered the one-eyed jonin as he began sifting through the papers once more. After a moment he held up a thin leather bound book. "This is the remains of yet another manuscript. This one though, tells the story of a prince who sold his soul to the devil, who we believe to be King Yama, in exchange for immortality. This is the part we were most interested in: Thus died Vladimir Tepes the third, prince of Wallachia. In that moment his soul flew to the devils side and his corpse rose. So began the reign of the dark count, Draquithar."

"Draquithar? Why does this demon posses so many different names?" wondered the Hokage out loud.

"We wondered the same thing, and after a bit more searching we found an answer. Draquithar is a word from a long dead language; it means 'Lord of Shadow'. We also found multiple reference to a being called Dracula, or Alucard. We believe these to be no more than mispronunciations of Draquithar. However researching any of these names always led us back to Vladimir Tepes."

"This means, what? That this No-Life King just has a lot of names?" asked the Hokage in a weary tone. "Because all I've got so far is that he wields great powers, has multiple underlings and is the lord of a demonic race known as the fanged ones."

"We believe that the fact the he has multiple names, combined with the age of the documents we found the information in, indicates that this particular demon has been around since long before the era of the Sage of Six Paths. In fact based off of the dating system used on the documents we think that he is somewhere around seven or eight thousand years old." Kakashi answered. "Now, to answer a previous question. We didn't find anything that told us exactly who or what the fanged ones are, but we did find something like a description of them. They are defined as; the dead who live in the night, the soulless monsters of the shadows, demons who drink the souls of men, the blood-born demons, and the lords of the twilight."

"That's not all that descriptive." commented the Hokage

"True, but it was all we could find. Beyond what I have shown you we found little more than vague references to the being we call the No-Life King. Most of those references were actually to one of his other names." Kakashi replied with a disappointed sigh.

The Hokage closed his eyes in thought as he pondered the information he had been given. After a moment he slowly opened them. "Alright, tell me your theories. I have a few of my own, but I want to see what you all came up with."

Kakashi gathered all the papers back into the folder and leaned back into his chair. "Alright, so here's our theory. Several millennia ago a man named Vladimir Tepes sold his soul for immortality and so became a demon known as Draquithar. Since then he has spent his time building up his power, and based on where his name appeared on the list of demon lords we think his power is at least as great as the Kyuubi's."

"That doesn't tell me what kind of demon he is."

"All of the information we have leads us to one conclusion, we believe the No-Life King to be the ruler of all vampires. He is the immortal lord of a race that drinks souls, are a form of undead and are created by blood. None of us could come up with any other kind of demon that fits the bill, can you?" Kakashi answered slowly.

"I came to the same conclusion that you did. Honestly though, I find it rather hard to believe that fairy tale monsters like vampires actually exist." the Hokage replied as he shook his head slowly.

"You once fought a fifty story nine-tailed demon fox." Kakashi pointed out with a light chuckle.

The Hokage laughed a bit as he replied. "I know I did, but sometimes I don't believe that either."

The two men enjoyed their brief moment of humor for another second or two before becoming serious once more.

"What do you think we should do my lord?" Kakashi asked earnestly.

"For now we will do nothing. We will keep this information to ourselves to make sure the council doesn't hear a word of this. If they do all hell is going to break lose. Beyond that though, we will wait and watch to see what happens."

"That's not much of a plan. That's more of a general set of goals." Kakashi commented.

"If you have a better idea feel free to share." replied the Hokage.

Kakashi raised his hands defensively. "Hey, I was just pointing that out. Didn't mean to cause a problem."

"I know you didn't mean anything by it Kakashi. Thank you for your help." The Hokage responded with a strained smile.

Kakashi stood up from his chair and bowed before turning to leave. When he reached the door he stopped and turned back around. "You do realize that if that demon was telling the truth if- no, when Naruto returns he will be a vampire. I somehow doubt the council will react kindly to having a blood-sucking monster freely walking around the village."

"If we are lucky they will do something suicidally stupid." replied the old warrior with an obvious smirk. "But I'll deal with them when that happens, just as I should of before."

"Yes sir, until later then." Kakashi said as he exited, leaving the old man to his thoughts, dreams, and nightmares.

* * *

(Inside Blood-Borne Hall, Thirty-six hours after Naruto was bitten…)

Naruto awoke in a strange bed with a splitting headache. He groaned in pain as he sat up, the simple exertion had him seeing stars. He groaned again as he gave up trying to sit up and instead curled up into a ball with his head between his knees. As he did he heard a door open.

"Oh! You're awake!" said a young woman's voice.

He opened one eye just a crack to see a young woman standing at the foot of his bed. She looked vaguely familiar until his more recent memories mad themselves know. "You're Seras, right? You and that tall guy saved me from that mob."

Seras smiled widely showing off her pair of unusually large canines. "You even remembered my name, that's great! Now I have a question for you. After we saved you we went to your apartment to get some things. Do you remember what happened after that?"

Naruto finally sat up but rested his back on the headboard as he found he lacked the strength to remain upright on his own. "You used some kind of space-time jutsu. One minute we were in my bedroom, the next we were in some huge building and I was on the floor." He cringed a bit." I hurt really badly, it was like my body was on fire. But then that tall guy showed up again. He asked me if I wanted to live or if I was willing to die."

"What was your answer?" Seras prompted.

"I told him I wanted to live, no matter what." Naruto replied with a determined expression.

Seras's body drooped a little as she sighed. "Good you remember you choice."

"My choice? What do you mean by that?" Naruto asked quietly with a puzzled expression.

Seras looked at him with sadness obvious in her crimson eyes. "Naruto, I'm sorry to be the one who has to tell you this but, after my master, Alucard, heard your answer, you died."

"You mean I'm dead!" Naruto exclaimed with wide eyes.

"Technically, yes you are dead." Seras said slowly as if she was unsure of herself. "Master Alucard brought you back though."

Naruto narrowed his eyes. "How did he do that? No one can bring the dead back to life!"

(Somewhere in Amegakure a sickly looking red head sneezed.)

Seras smirked a little bit. "Master Alucard is a demon lord of immense power he can do many things that you would consider impossible. But you're right, as powerful as he is even my master cannot breathe life back into the dead, but…Oh screw this! This is not my style!"

"What do you mean? What's going on?" asked a thoroughly confused Naruto.

"Look you aren't going to believe this any way so I'm going to just say it and get it over with." She took a deep breath. "You're a vampire now Naruto. You said you wanted to live no matter what, so, here you are."

Naruto wasn't sure if he should laugh or just call her crazy. Everyone knew that there were no such things as vampires, they were just stories. But as he stared into her crimson eyes and glanced at her sharpened canines he slowly came to realize that not only was she completely serious but also, she was a vampire! If she could be a vampire then, could he be one too?

He concentrated and tried to find his heartbeat but to no avail. He then also realized that he had been unconsciously holding his breath, yet he felt no tightness or pain in his chest. He looked into her eyes once more and saw his fear mirrored there.

"Dear Kami, you aren't kidding, are you?" he whispered.

Seras shook her head slowly and watched as his shoulders slumped down in defeat. Then suddenly he seemed to perk back up. He looked at her with obvious excitement.

"If I'm a vampire now does that mean that mean I can do all those cool things you see in the movies?" Naruto asked while bubbling with excitement.

She nodded with a very confused expression.

His face lit up with a massive grin. "That means I could be the most powerful and amazing ninja ever! The I'll become the most awesome Hokage, I'll be even cooler than the Yondaime!"

Seras was thoroughly confused. She had absolutely no idea what he was blabbering about.

'_It is his reason for living, it is his dream'_ Alucard explained through their telepathic link.

'_I can see that, but who is a Hokage?'_ Seras asked in kind.

'_The Hokage is the leader and mightiest defender of the village he lived in.' _Alucard explained. _'He believes that if he becomes Hokage everyone will stop hating him for the fox he carries.'_

'_Um, I hate to rain on his parade, but no one in their right mind would ever let a vampire become the leader of a human village.' _ Seras commented.

'_Perhaps' _Alucard mused, '_To him none of that matters. To him we have simply given him another way to get stronger and prove himself to the villagers. The fact that he has become a vampire doesn't even faze him in the least.'_

'_Heh, he's an interesting kid, that's for sure.' _ She replied as she severed their mental link. As she came back to her sense she saw two things that absolutely stunned her. First off the three blood packs she had brought in for him were completely drained and were now lying discarded on the floor. Secondly was standing in front of a full length mirroand was poking his reflection.

"Naruto? Did you drink those?" she asked motioning towards the blood packs.

Naruto blinked a few times before answering. "Duh! I mean I know they were full of blood but I figured since I'm a vampire I should drink it. Strangely enough they tasted a lot like ramen." He then went back to poking his reflection.

Seras's eyes were as wide as they could get.

'_He's not even a day old and he's already totally okay with drinking human blood? What kind of person is he?' _she thought to herself.

'_E is vone who has seen and felt far too much pain in iz life'_ Bernadette replied. _'Zo I am razer curious az to vhy e iz poking iz refletion. Zeemz a bit odd to me.'_

"What are you doing? Seras asked for Bernadette.

"I'm trying to figure out who this guy on the other side of the window is and why he's copying me." Naruto replied entirely serious.

Seras laughed loudly. "It's not a window, it's a mirror, so there is no one on the other side, it's just your reflection."

"He doesn't look anything like me! Besides, vampires don't have reflections." Naruto stated confidently.

Seras laughed again as she walked over to stand next to Naruto allowing him to see her reflection in the mirror.

Naruto's eyes widened as he realized the implications of seeing Seras's reflection. He then looked at his own reflection and took stock of what he saw. The eight year old Naruto he had once known, in his place stood a young man in his late teens standing around five foot ten and wearing only a pair a blue flannel pants. Every trace of fat had disappeared leaving only well toned whipcord muscles, even the fat from his face had vanished leaving behind an angular predators face. On that face were no whisker marks though his eyes still shone an electric blue. The most obvious change though, was his hair. His once spiky blonde hair now fell to his shoulders in a silver cascade. He was an entirely new man.

Seeing his shocked expression Seras spoke. "Sometimes the body can handle the transformation, sometimes it can't. Your body was too young and underdeveloped to fully accept the change, so it grew older to let the transformation to complete."

Naruto nodded but continued to stare at his new reflection.. Eventually a knock at the door startled him out of his Narcissistic reverie. Seras opened it to reveal to young men in black tuxedos, one with blonde hair, the other brown.

"Miss Victoria." said the blonde as he bowed. "The master wishes to speak with you at once. He also asked the Naruto be given clothing more, appropriate than his current attire."

The brown haired one bowed to Naruto. "Sir Naruto, if you will follow me I shall lead you to the masters wardrobe. Once ther we can find more suitable attire to wear in the master's presence."

Naruto nodded and the two left. Seras watched as the two disappeared down the corridor.

The blonde servant coughed lightly. "Miss Victoria, the master awaits your presence in the library."

"Thank you Alexi, I'll go see what he wants." She replied as she stepped into a shadow.

When she emerged from the shadows once more she was surrounded by bookcases. True to its name the library contained thousands, if not tens of thousands of books. Two entire walls were covered in shelves all the way to the ceiling almost thirty feet up. A huge fireplace with a cheery fire dominated the third while an enormous stained glass window filled the last. In the center of the room near the fire sat two large wing-backed chairs with a small table in between. Currently the table supported only an open wine bottle and two upside down glasses.

"You wanted to see me Master?" Seas asked the room.

"That I did, come, sit with me. We have much to discuss." replied Alucard's rich voice.

Seras made her way around to the chairs and sat across from her master. Before her was the true No-Life King, not the Alucard everyone knew, but the Count Dracula, the true form of the oldest and most powerful vampire in existence. As she understood it when Alucard had been under Hellsing's control he could only assume his true form when he was commanded. With the Hellsing family long dead, he could assume any form he wished. Though she knew that when he went into combat he was usually Alucard of Hellsing, as he said that that form was used to day to day combat.

"What is it you wanted to talk about Master?" she asked quietly. She would never admit it, but she was more frightened of Count Dracula than she was of Alucard. Alucard was a total psychopath, but that was really all there was to him, he was a polite gentleman when he had to be and a bloodthirsty monster the rest of the time. Not exactly hard to predict. On the other hand the Count could be smiling and chatting with you amiably one moment only to butcher millions in the next with the exact same smile. The counts actions were impossible to predict.

"Seras, how many times must I tell you, I am no longer your master, please stop referring to me as such." the Count said with a warm smile. "You may call me Vladimir, Dracula, even Alucard if you wish, but not master, it does not befit one such as yourself." Seras shook her head causing him to sigh in irritation. "If you must be so stubborn about this, then simply say 'My Lord'"

"Yes, ma-my Lord." she replied.

He smiled again, "Now that that is settled, on to business. I have been thinking on much lately, mostly about what to do with Naruto and all the problems or possibilities he may create. As such I have come to a decision that I believe will be the best for all of us. I will make him heir to my throne and all of its power."

"My Lord, You can't be serious!" Seras exclaimed, "The clans will be beyond furious, they'd likely kill him out of spite!"

"They may try," the Count responded coldly, "but if they lay so much as a finger on him I will demonstrate once more why I am king. The moment I declare him my heir he shall become my adopted son. I do not appreciate others attempting to harm that which I hold dear."

"But why him my Lord?" Seras asked with a fearful tone.

"Why not?" the Count answered in an amused tone. "The two of you are the only remaining first generation vampires in existence. Most of the clan leaders are third or lower. Your powers dwarf theirs in almost every conceivable way. More importantly to me though is his spirit. That boy is a fighter; once his eyes are set upon a goal nothing will stop him from achieving it until it is his or until death claims him. His will is to strong for him to allow anyone to defeat him, do you understand?"

"I suppose so." she replied as she turned her gaze into the fire.

"As interesting as our little discussion about Naruto is, we are not here to talk about him." said the Count as he stared into the space before him.

Seras was curious, "Then what was it you truly wanted to talk about?"

"You. "he replied simply.

"Me? Why on Earth would you want to talk to me about me?" Seras asked incredulously.

"It has come to my attention that you have served me for a great many years without compensation. This is a mistake I never should have allowed. You who have so diligently followed my commands even after gaining your freedom deserve more than just life as another of my warriors." The Count sighed wearily and turned his gaze to meet hers. "Would you do me the grand honor of becoming my No-Life Queen?"

"You want me to marry you?" Seras said with a hint of fear.

"No. What need have we for marriage? Besides, you wouldn't be so much my wife as my second in command. Also it would technically make you Naruto's adoptive mother." The Count replied crossly.

"Well, I guess I can deal with being a queen, it is every little girl's fantasy." She then smiled lightly, "And I did always dream of being a mother."

"He clapped, "Excellent! I have already called a clan council in two months. I would suggest you procure some more formal attire before then."

She shook her head. "Only you could ever be excited about seeing that bunch of power hungry assholes."

He just grinned, "I'm not looking forwards to the meeting. I just can't wait to see the looks on their pompous faces when I introduce you and Naruto!"

They both laughed a little at the mental image but ceased when there was a knock at the door.

A muffled voice spoke from the other side. "Master, sir Naruto has arrived. Shall I send him in?"

"Send him in at once."

Naruto then entered the room somewhat hesitantly, after all he was about to talk to the man who technically saved his life.

Alucard smirked as Naruto approached. _'Now he looks like a true and proper lord of the night.'_ he thought as he took in Naruto's new choice of clothes.

Naruto was wearing a short, black, double breasted jacket that was open slightly at the top revealing the red lining while the rest was held closed by large silver buttons. On his legs he wore loose black slacks with an inch wide red stripe bordered by silver roping running down the sides. Over all of this he wore a long black hooded cloak with a red liner, more silver buttons, red cuffs and a chin high cowl. On the back of each sleeve was another red line similar to the ones on his pants. The stripes ran all the way from his cuffs to his shoulder before turning down to meet up at the coats hem to form a stylized letter 'W'. He had braided his long silver hair to form a short pony tail at the base of his skull at the back while to clumps of bangs came down to frame his angular face.

"You look good in that Naruto, much better than those rags we found you in." Seras commented with a smile.

Naruto blushed a bit, no one had ever said he looked good before. "Thank you Miss Victoria, I think that's the first time anyone has ever said that to me."

"Walk around any city looking like that you'll get all the compliments you can imagine." she teased.

She was about to say something else but an almost imperceptible frown from the Count was enough to shut her up.

"I'm sure you have a great many questions Naruto. Please don't hesitate to ask" the Count said seriously.

Naruto hesitated for a moment, "I want to thank you for helping me but, I can't really do that if I don't know your name. So who are you?"

Seras resisted the urge to face palm. _'He just had to ask that, didn't he?'_

"I won't bore you with my entire life story so these are the more basic things you need to know. My true name is Vladimir Tepes. I was born seven-thousand six-hundred eighty –three years ago in a small kingdom called Wallachia. Near my thirty second birthday I was to be executed for various reasons. I was so afraid of death that I made a deal with the devil and became the first vampire. I changed my name and called myself Count Dracula. Almost two hundred years later I was defeated by a group of incredible humans; one of them forced me to serve hi family and used me to hunt down other monsters including the vampires I had created. Eventually the family died out and I became free. Since then I have spent most of my time here in the underworld creating a kingdom for vampires." He explained slowly.

"I didn't understand all of that but I think I get the idea. Alright so, since I'm a vampire can I do all that cool stuff you see in the movies? Like turning into bats, mind control, flying?" Naruto asked excitedly.

"Eventually, yes, but not yet. Right now you are only a fledgling, essentially a human with vampiric traits. You are currently stronger, faster and tougher than most human but not all. You won't be able to access your full power until you've made your choice." the Count answered.

"Didn't I already do that though? I mean, I chose to keep living, didn't I." Naruto replied.

The Count rubbed his chin thoughtfully before he answered. "You chose to become cast aside your humanity and become a vampire. Even so there is some small part of your soul that wants to remain human because there is some part of being a vampire it refuses to accept. Of course since each person is different everyone won't accept different things and are limited in different ways. For example Seras refused to drink human blood, so while she had almost all of her physical abilities she couldn't use anything else. We'll just have to experiment to see what you can and can't do."

Naruto looked a little bummed but quickly brightened back up before asking, "Since my body is stronger does that mean my jutsu will be stronger to?"

A look of pity appeared on the Counts face. "No, as a vampire you will be unable to use ninjutsu."

"What!?" Naruto cried in a horrified tone.

"Ninjutsu requires chakra which is created by combining your physical and mental energies. Our bodies are technically dead so we have no physical energy, thus we cannot form chakra." the Count explained in a sad tone.

Naruto was grief-stricken; it took all of his willpower to stop himself from falling to the floor and start bawling his eyes out. Even so a small drop of blood oozed from one eye. If he couldn't use ninjutsu there was no way he could be a ninja.

"You may not be able to use ninjutsu, but I have a way you can still become a ninja." the Count said calmly.

"How?" Naruto choked out.

"We may not be able to use ninjutsu, but I can teach you the many demonic spells I have learned over the years." the old vampire answered.

Naruto's eyes lit back up with excitement. He could still become a ninja without ninjutsu, he would do it with magic. "Thank you!"

The vampire king chuckled. "Don't thank me now, I haven't begun your training yet. Any further questions?"

Naruto thought for a moment and shook his head.

"Then I have a question for you. Would you like to hear it?" Dracula asked seriously.

Naruto gulped, he didn't like that tone of voice. Though he was somewhat curious as to what a mighty demon lord would want to ask someone like him. In the end his curiosity overcame his fear and he nodded.

The first vampire looked Naruto dead in the eyes as he spoke. "What would you say if I told you that Seras and I wish to adopt you and make you prince of all vampires?"

* * *

**CUUUUUUUUT!**

**Yay for the end of the second chapter!**

**Okay that was hard but I'm still going! (desperately hides pile of empty Monster cans)**

**The next chapter will again be out in a week or so.**

**Again send me a guess if you think you know the name of Naruto's weapon!**

**Also is there anyone you want to see become a vampire? I'll see if I can't fit them in somehow.**

**OH CRAP! ALUCARDS HERE! RUN AWAY, RUN AWAYYYYYYY!**


	3. Chapter 3

**H.U.:Hello everybody! I'm back!**

**(Alucard points Jackal at head) You are the worst writer ever.**

**H.U.:What did I do?**

**A: You said it would be a week it has been almost two, I should kill you.**

**H.U.:If you do that I can't write anymore!**

**A: Fine.**

**Seriously though I do apologize for my lateness, life happened and I got sidetracked. Granted this is a slightly shorter chapter but the next one will make up for that in spades.**

**Dage:I'm going to turn Hinata obviously, hadn't thought about Hanabi though.**

**DragonNOOB: I don't think he'll be that powerful. A city maybe, the world? Probably not.**

**WolfCoyote: Nope sorry.**

**GuestDKB: I have never even heard of that gun.**

**Black Artist: Like the idea of turning Hanabi just to give Hiashi a heart attack. I was already planning on turning Haku. The last two are maybes, mostly because i would have to find a good way to get them into a situation where they would essentially get killed.**

**Anyway, enough of my ranting. Please enjoy the product of my Coke and Banana induced halucinations.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Hellsing, Vampire the Masquerade, or RWBY. Those belong to people who are infinitely cooler and richer than me.**

* * *

Chapter Three: Rise of a Prince

Naruto stared at the ancient vampire sitting before him. He blinked a few times before he responded with a highly intelligent, "What?"

Alucard was rather taken aback at Naruto's response. Thinking that he had been misheard he decided to repeat himself. "I asked you if you wished to be adopted and-"

Naruto held his hands out in front of him and made a 'halt' motion. "No, no, I heard you the first time. I'm just really wondering if you are actually being serious or just teasing me."

The counts eyes narrowed dangerously as a low rumble emerged from his chest. He truly did not appreciate Naruto's questioning of him.

Hearing her master's anger Seras interrupted. "Of course we are serious Naruto." She said in a soft voice. "We saw the hell you lived in. No one, especially not a kid like yourself, should have to go through what you did. Worse yet you grew up without parents, without anyone to love and protect you so you could just have a happy childhood. We just want to help you."

Naruto crossed his arms in front of his chest. "How do you know so much about my life?"

"Anything that is known to those I consume becomes known to me." replied the count from his chair.

Seras rolled her eyes and sighed wearily. "Look, you want my honest reason, fine, here it is. Long ago when I was still human my life was a lot like yours, maybe not as bad, but like you I spent most of my childhood all alone without any parents. When I grew up I always dreamed about finding someone to start a family with so I could give my kids all the love and attention I never got. When I became a vampire I thought I had lost the ability to ever see that dream come true. Now I can have my dream, with you."

Naruto still looked somewhat unconvinced.

Seras jerked her head towards her master. "He says he wants you as his adopted son because you remind him of himself when he was still human. That is a load of bull if you ask me. He'll never admit it, but some of his happiest moments in his entire existence occurred with his human family."

"You know, I'm right here." grumbled the vampiric king from his seat. "I'm fully capable of speaking for myself Draculina."

Seras ignored him and locked her gaze on Naruto's. "If you'll notice, nowhere in his grumbling did he say I was wrong, did he? So what do you say Naruto? Could you give two heartless old vampires a family?"

Naruto's eyes swept back and forth across the two vampires before him. After a moment his expression softened as he released a large sigh. "You know if we were to become a family, I'm pretty sure we would win 'the most screwed up family in the world' award pretty consistently… mother." he finished with a smile.

Seras jumped out of her seat to embrace her new son. In fact she did it so fast that her chair flew back about twenty feet. Mother and son embraced for a minute or two before Seras stepped back and lightly kissed him on the cheek. As they fully disengaged from each other both began to sniffle, like they were about to begin crying.

"Oh please, don't start crying in front of me." the count commented in a tone somewhere between anger and annoyance. "What kind of king would I be if my wife and son suddenly start bawling their eyes out after a short hug?"

Naruto dabbed at his eyes with his sleeve a few times before a thought occurred to him. "Father you keep saying you're a king. What exactly are you king of?"

The No-Life King rose from his chair and stood before his new son and heir. "I am the first vampire ever to have existed. Due to my age I am also the most powerful, by a huge margin. As such I am the No-Life King, ruler of all vampire kind and master of large parts of the underworld."

Naruto whistled appreciatively. He figured it was something like that, but he never would have guessed that his new father was the oldest vampire in existence.

The ancient vampire caught Naruto in his burning crimson gaze. "As my son you are my heir. One day I will step down and you will inherit the throne after me. You are my son and heir, the No-Life Prince Naruto Tepes."

"Tepes huh? I guess I could get use to that. Goes to show I'm not the same abused little kid that I was." Naruto commented with a small smirk.

'_Seras, the boy and I must leave for a time.'_ the king thought.

'_What!? Why now when we just became a proper family?'_ Seras replied.

'_Yes we are a family, and that is why we must leave.'_ the count explained. _'In two months the thirteen clans will be gathering here. Naruto must be ready to deal with them in every way possible. He must be trained to understand his abilities, or he won't last the week.'_

'_I understand, my lord. I still don't like it though' _Seras replied with a huff.

The ancient king smirked a bit as he turned back to Seras and bowed slightly. "Until we meet again, my Lady."

Seras bowed lightly in return as she quietly replied, "Until we meet again, my Lord."

With that the count nodded and walked out the door wit a few long strides. "Come with me Naruto, we have much that needs to be done." he called over his shoulder.

Naruto looked at his mother. When she nodded he all but flew out the door and down the hallway. When he caught up he decided to speak. "Father, where are we going, and why?"

"We are going into the city to get a proper weapon for you from an old friend of mine." the count answered of his shoulder. "After that we will be heading out into the wilderness for two months."

Naruto was visibly shocked. "I've only just arrived here! Why do we have to leave for so long?"

"We are leaving the city so that we may train. Or at least so that I may train you." replied the caped figure as he looked over his shoulder at his son.

"Training already? Man you're even worse than Iruka-sensei!" Naruto whined.

"If you do not wish to train then feel free to go home and wait for your approaching death." was the callous reply.

Naruto shivered at the coldness in his father's voice. "What do you mean, wait for my approaching death? Is there something coming here that wants me dead?"

"In two months the leaders of the thirteen vampire clans will be gathering here for a council. I plan on introducing you as my son and heir during that council meeting. Many will object to my decision, but they aren't dumb enough to challenge me directly. Rather they will challenge you in hopes of defeating you and claiming your position." his father explained. "I want you to be strong enough to crush any and all who would dare challenge you."

"I get the feeling you and these clan people don't get along real well." Naruto teased.

The older vampire growled deep in his throat. "That would be a severe understatement. I absolutely loathe that bunch of power hungry asswipes. They are constantly trying to find ways of undermining my power or subverting my authority. They seem to think that just because the clans look to them for guidance that they rule this kingdom and not I."

"Then why do you keep them around if you hate them so much?" Naruto asked, genuinely curious.

"As much as I hate to admit it, I need them to keep the clans in line. Without the clan heads there would be a state of almost continuous warfare amongst the clans. That would lead to the end of my kingdom, and possibly our entire race." the count sighed.

A small and somewhat psychotic grin appeared on Naruto's face. "Well if you can't do anything about them, I'll crush them for you. You are my father and anyone who messes with you, messes with me to." he declared as he punched his palm.

A similarly psychotic grin appeared on the counts face as well. "I would enjoy watching you do so, my son."

* * *

Time Skip: +two months

(I will now be calling Alucard Vladimir as he is Vladimir Tepes when he is acting as king)

Exactly two months later Father and son stood facing each other in a small anteroom outside the throne room.

Vladimir looked upon his son with a slight smile. "You have far exceeded my expectations Naruto. Now it is time to show the world you power. Don't let anyone or anything stand before you. Let your enemies fear you and your allies follow you. You are a worthy heir to my throne, prove it to them."

Naruto bowed lightly as he replied. "Thank you for your confidence in me father. I will do all in my power to make sure I don't disappoint and live up to your expectations of me."

"I have faith that you will do just that my boy." Vladimir replied as he clapped his hand down on the boy's shoulder. "Now go wait in the front foyer until I call you into the room. I believe your mother is already awaiting you there."

"I shall do that father. Thank you." With that Naruto bowed again, slightly deeper than last time, before he turned and walked down a hall towards the throne room's foyer area.

As he walked through the building he found himself almost vibrating with anticipation. He was eager to demonstrate to everyone that he was worthy of the gift of life he had received and the title that had been bestowed upon him. He felt supremely confident that he would be able to beat anyone who would try and challenge him.

After leaving the city the first thing his father had done was to make Naruto perform a series of exercises to see what parts of his vampiric abilities he had access to and which ones he didn't. When the tests were complete his father had been quite astonished by the power he wielded, even as a fledgling. Apparently most fledglings only power was augmented physical abilities such as speed, strength, and toughness, but little else. Naruto was different, he was no stronger or tougher than the average human twenty year old, he didn't even have the enhanced senses that made vampires such astounding hunters. Even with those limitations his father had declared that he was the most powerful and deadliest fledgling he had ever seen for three reasons; his speed, his shadow, and his magic.

Most fledglings were very fast by human standards as they are capable of moving at approximately twenty or so miles an hour, or about the speed of a mid range chunin, for short periods of time anyway. For Naruto that kind of speed was an easy jog he could keep up all day if he had to. In a dead sprint he was capable of reaching speeds in the region of almost forty miles per hour which was as fast if not faster than most Jonin could mange in a sprint. His normal speed was closer to thirty-five mph, a speed he could maintain for up to six hours at a time. Then there was his shadow.

All vampires third generation and lower were theoretically capable of wielding their shadow, and those around them, as weapons, though few actually could, mostly because they normally focused primarily on their clans more specific abilities. Besides his parents the only other people who even bothered to try and master their shadows were the members of the LeSambre clan. In order to use ones shadow one needed to have consumed at least one soul which would then power the shadow. Because of that few if any fledglings could even possibly wield there shadow. Naruto already had a second soul within him so he could create a shadow familiar in the shape of nine orbs of shadow that would appear around him. He could then use those orbs as weapons or shields, or whatever he needed. Anyhting he couldn't do with his familiar he could do with his magic.

Even though Naruto's speed and skill with his familiar were impressive, it was his ability to wield magic that had truly astounded his father. Very few vampires had the ability to wield magic effectively, only about one in ten could ever use it well, and only a few hundred could be considered masters of the art. The very fact that Naruto could wield it at all was astounding but what truly amazed his father was how easily he did it. Spells that would take even the greatest of demon warlocks weeks to learn Naruto could master in a day or two, and he could use them. No just cast them, but chain them together to amplify their effects, or cast two at once two increase damage. Vladimir only trained Naruto in the use of magic for about three weeks, but by the end of the third week Naruto could fight his father to standstill in a duel of magic.

Together these three abilities made Naruto an incredibly dangerous foe for any and all who would wish to fight him. When he pulled out his weapon though, he went from dangerous to downright deadly.

Thinking about his weapon Naruto reached behind him to gently touch it as it lay slung across his lower back. As he did he thought back to the first time he saw it.

(Flashback)

After leaving Blood-Borne hall Vladimir had led him down into the city proper. From there they had then proceeded to leave the main thoroughfare and had entered the labyrinthine alleys and side streets.

"Where are we going? I thought you said we were going to leave the city to train!" Naruto said after a time.

"We will go and train!" his father replied with barely concealed annoyance. "If you would think for a moment you should recall I said we were also going to procure a weapon for you to use."

"If we are looking for weapons why didn't we stop at one of the weapon shops out on the main road?" Naruto snapped back.

"We are going to see an old friend of mine. He built my Vulture and repairs both it and Jackal. He is known for building rather, unique weapons. However he only does custom jobs so his shop is back here so he isn't bothered. He'll have a weapon suitable for your use." Vladimir answered as he turned onto a particularly narrow alleyway.

A wistful look appeared on Naruto's face. "Aw man, I bet it'll be some sweet looking sword like the ANBU use."

"Why would you ever need a sword?" Vladimir inquired cutting Naruto's weapon fantasies short. "As a vampire you can rip your opponent's bodies in half with your bare hands. Or punch them hard enough to create a hole right through them. What use would you have for a weapon as simple as a sword?"

Naruto flushed from embarrassment, which essentially meant he went from ghost colored to vaguely pinkish. "So what kind of weapon will I be getting?"

"I have no idea." replied his father from around a corner. "That's what makes coming here so entertaining; you never know what he might be working on this week."

Naruto almost ran into his father's back as he had abruptly stopped. In front of them was a small nondescript wooden door set into the wall. In white paint someone had crudely wrote the word 'Weapons' across it at eye level. Vladimir reached out and rapped on the door with his knuckles. After another moment a young man with slicked back black hair, a black vest, black pants, and a long sleeved white shirt opened the door.

"Oh, it's you my Lord. Come on in." said the man around a lit cigarette.

The old vampire strode in with Naruto following close behind. The man closed the door and then exited the room through another. Naruto didn't notice as his eyes wandered the room. To him it seemed like a cross between an armory and someone's garage that hadn't been cleaned in a while. Dozens of weapons of all sorts littered the tables dotted around the room in various states of construction. On the walls large racks held all sorts of pole arms and swords.

On one low counter near Naruto there were several rather strange looking objects. Two appeared to be a pair of thick yellow colored metal bracelets. Another was a thin white sword with a small cylinder between the blade and grip. The third appeared to be no more than a large red metal rectangle. For some reason he left his fathers side and started to approach it, but he stopped as the man reentered the room carrying two large suitcases which he placed on the table.

"Here you go, as usual, ten fully loaded clips per weapon." He tapped the ashes from his cigarette before continuing. "So, what brings you to my humble little shop? Normally you send Seras or one of your other servants down to pick these up. I assume you want something from me, or you were just bored and decided to stretch your legs. So what is it, maintenance, cleaning tuning, modifications…?" he trailed off suggestively.

"I'm looking for a proper weapon for my newest fledgling, and your family has always made such excellent and unique weapons." Vladimir answered. He nodded his head towards where Naruto was standing and trying to be inconspicuous. "That's him, what do you have that might work?"

The man smirked. "Would I be correct in assuming that you don't want a another Harkonnen? Because I think I have one of the copies sitting around somewhere in the back."

"One Harkonnen is enough. Though a ranged weapon would be far more useful."

"You ruin all my fun." the man replied with a chuckle. "So you're looking for a mighty weapon huh kid?"

Naruto nodded slowly and the man smirked again.

"Alright then! Before we go any farther please allow me to introduce myself." He bowed deeply at the waist and spoke as he came back up. "I am Walter C. Dornez VIII, master assassin and weapon designer extraordinaire. You can call me Chris though, it's my middle name and everyone calls me that anyway. Honestly though I don't really care what you call me, so long as I get paid anyway. So exactly what kind of weapon are you looking for kid?" he released a long stream of smoke into Naruto's face.

Naruto frowned and waved away the smoke. "My name is not kid, it's Naruto Tepes and you'd better remember it!"

Chris put his hands up defensively. "All right, all right, sorry. Didn't mean to insult you or anything. Could you answer the question, I can't help you if I'm working with a blank."

Naruto's brow furrowed in thought. "I really don't know what exactly I'm looking for. I do know that I want it to be powerful and able to be used in almost any situation."

Chris rubbed hi shin thoughtfully. "A single weapon suitable for use in any combat situation. A difficult proposition to be sure, but not impossible. Let me think here…" The weapon maker began to mumble to himself as he looked up at the ceiling. His eyes though stayed riveted on Naruto.

Thinking that Chris wasn't paying attention to him Naruto began to inch back towards the big red thing as he had earlier, much to his father's amusement.

Every weapon in the shop was forged from Demon Steel, a metal made from underworld iron and forged using hell fire. Because of the Demon Steel every weapon had a unique aura of demonic energy around it. Anyone who didn't already possess a weapon would find themselves irresistibly drawn to one weapon or another the moment they entered the shop. Usually whatever weapon they were drawn to wound up being almost the perfect weapon for them to wield.

'_Ohoho, interesting choice boy.'_ thought Chris as he watched the boy. _'So that is his weapon huh? Don't know if a kid like him can actually wield that thing, but we'll see. No matter what happens it will definitely be something to see.'_

Unaware of the attention he was receiving Naruto finally got close enough to get a good look at this thing that caught his attention. Upon closer inspection he saw that it was not one large hunk of metal but rather a number of smaller pieces folded in and around one another, only one piece stuck up from the rest, a single thin black rod that stuck straight out of the side. Naruto reached out to pull the lever just to see what it would do, but another hand appeared and grabbed hi wrist preventing him from moving his hand at all. Naruto looked up to see Chris casually leaning against the counter next to him.

"So, found one you like, have you?" he said as he blew out another stream of smoke.

"Well not really, but …" Naruto had a look of confusion and embarrassment on his face.

"But you felt drawn to take a look at this one right?" Naruto nodded causing the weapons man to smile. "Let me tell you a secret. Around here you can't just pick up any old weapon and say it's yours. Around here the weapon picks you just as much as you pick it."

Chris took a deep drag on his cigarette before grabbing the weapon and pushing himself off the counter. He walked to the center of the room and then turned around to face Naruto.

"Meet your new partner!" he said with a grin as he pulled the lever.

Naruto watched in awe as the hunk of metal unfolded. In a few moments Chris held a six foot long war scythe in his hands. Its haft was a shiny black color with a large red rectangular bit about halfway. The haft terminated in a small but vicious looking spear blade. The other end was dominated by the scythe and its large counterweight.

"Let me introduce you to one of my deadliest creations!" Chris said with a massive smile. "This is the Mark IV H.C.S.S. Its primary purpose is long range precision fire and contains a seventy-five caliber sniper rifle at its core. It uses high explosive armor piercing demon steel rounds fed from a fifteen round magazine. The blade itself is edged with adamantine allowing to cut through all but the toughest materials with ease."

"It is so… beautiful!" Naruto whispered as he gaze at the scythe.

"_It_ has a name you know." Chris groused as he pulled the lever again causing the blade to fold back up into a more manageable size.

"What is it?"

"Naruto Tepes, I proudly present you with Crimson Moon. If you take good care of her she'll take good care of her." Chris replied as he placed the weapon into Naruto's outstretched arms.

(Flashback End)

Naruto unconsciously rubbed his weapon as it lay against his lower back. As he did he used his other hand to push open the door into the foyer. True to his fathers words his mother was waiting for him inside. As he closed the door she ran up and pulled him into a tight hug.

"Naruto, I'm so glad you're back! Now we can be a proper family!" she said happily as she hugged him. She then pushed him back and held him at arms length and peered intently at him. "You seem different somehow."

"Mom, I haven't changed at all, well I take that back. I switched my shoes for some combat boots." Naruto responded as he rubbed his head nervously. "It looks like you changed a lot more than I did though."

In place of her military looking jacket and miniskirt Seras now wore a long black Cheongsam dress. It was very elegant and had silver flames dancing on the hem. A red Chinese dragon started at the hem and wound around the dress until its head ended across her collarbones. Her normally somewhat wild blonde hair was also now done up in an elaborate bun that was held in place by two jeweled pins.

Seras crossed her arms and huffed in indignation. "I was told to wear something more formal than more normal clothes, and this was all I could find."

Naruto laughed. "Don't take this the wrong way, but your normal choice of apparel makes you look like a human teenager."

"I fail to see what the problem with that is. They're infinitely more comfortable than this stupid dress." Seras retorted with a raised eyebrow.

"While I agree that modern clothes are more comfortable, you're hardly a teenager." he replied.

"What's that supposed to mean? Are you implying that I'm old? If you are you are so grounded!" She said with a menacing scowl.

Naruto raised his hands up in front of himself like a shield. _'Crap, crap, crap! She's gonna kill me! That so did not come out the way I meant it to!'_

A deep gravelly laugh echoed within the confines of his mind.

'_Kurama! Stop laughing your ass off and help me!'_ Naruto mentally shouted.

_**'No way Kit, this is the best entertainment I've had in years. It's like watching a soap opera, only without the cheesy music.'**_ replied the voice. An image of a ten story tall nine-tailed fox appeared in Naruto's mind.

Over the last two months Naruto and the fox within him and become much more comfortable with each other. Kurama had come to respect Naruto's determination in the face of adversity and mental fortitude against all the abuse he had suffered. Naruto was just glad he had someone he could talk to freely, and who understood what he had gone through in life. He also was quite happy that the fox had become his first familiar. The two were almost friends. Of course what that really meant was that instead of wanting to kill each other they just abused each other at every chance they got.

'_Come on you big stupid furball! Get of your well cushioned ass and help me out here!'_ Naruto pleaded. _'She is going to kill me, and if I die so do you!'_

**_'Relax Kit she's not going to kill you. That's not how women work.'_** The demon fox replied with a rumbling chuckle.

'_Really, are you sure?'_

**_'Yeah, she won't kill you.'_** the fox sighed. **_'What she will do is beat you into a pulp, beat on the pulp for a while, ground you, wait for you to heal, and then beat you again. Well unless she's like Nibi, if she is then, yeah, she might kill you.'_**

Naruto groaned, _'I'll take just getting killed, it sounds far less painful.'_

_**'Hey don't go complaining to me, you were the one who joked about her age. Besides, technically, you're already dead, makes it kinda difficult for her to kill you.' **_Kurama pointed out in a sage-like tone. **_'Anyway, while you get your ass kicked I'm gonna sit here and watch and laugh. Oh, by the way, did you know you can get popcorn in here? 'Cause apparently you can, or at least I can!'_**

'_Stupid, lazy, good for nothing overgrown plushie!'_ Naruto growled internally.

Thankfully the entire conversation had taken place at the speed of thought so only a few seconds had passed. Unfortunately this meant that Seras was still pissed off and was still standing not two feet in front of Naruto.

Just as Seras was about to demand an explanation a massive gong sounded from somewhere within the building. It signaled that the council meeting had begun. Seras turned away from Naruto and approached a large mirror enchanted to show what was happening in the throne room.

'_Whew, saved by the gong!'_ Naruto mentally sighed.

**'_Wasn't that a TV show at some point?'_ **Kurama commented.

'_Huh?'_

**'_Never mind.'_**

Naruto came up next to his mother and peered into the mirror.

Inside the throne room Vladimir stood before his throne surveying the other vampires assembled before him. The group was a cross-section of his entire kingdom. Each of the thirteen clan leaders was present with an entourage of several hundred consisting of various assistants and other high ranking members of the clan. To anyone less than a true demon lord the power in the room would have been terrifying. Even many actual demon lords would have been terrified anyway as fourteen of the underworlds mightiest beings had gathered in this one room. For Vladimir all he saw in the assembled group was the annoying bureaucracy that kept his kingdom running.

"Representatives, Lords, Ladies, I welcome you to Blood-Borne Hall and the great city of Shadowfang." Vladimir announced with the smallest of bows. "Before we begin our council I would like to remind you that this city is of the kingdom, this is my city. There will be no inter-clan battles of any kind permitted within my walls. If any of your members choose to ignore this law they shall be immediately executed by exsanguinations. There will be no fighting within these walls."

There were a number of murmurs out in the crowd but no one voiced a challenge. No one dared stand against the king's laws. None was that suicidally stupid.

"Before we move onto the council's normal business I have a few announcements that need to be made." he paused for a moment. "For the last several decades many of you have been pressuring me to take a wife, to that end many of you have offered up some of the older females of your clans as possible candidates for my hand. Why you have done this I do not know, honestly though I do not care. However I have recently decided that you are correct. It is high time that I found someone that I can rule this nation side by side with. To that end I have spent the last few days choosing from amongst the females of our nation who I believe are capable of ruling by my side."

Out in the foyer Seras stepped up to the door and took a deep breathe to calm her nerves. In side the throne room the king was chuckling internally as he watched a number of women amongst the crowd adjust their dresses or fix their hair in anticipation of becoming queen.

'_Fools!' _ he laughed mentally. _'I never said I had chosen from among those presented to me. I said I had chosen form amongst those who are capable! If you idiots paid as much attention to the world around you as you do yourselves, you might actually gain some of the power you crave so badly! Until then you are just pathetic excuses for vampires!'_

"Let me introduce you to your new Queen." Once more many women amongst the crowd stirred, as if preparing themselves to hear their name being called. "I now present the No-Life Queen, Seras Victoria!"

The hidden gong sounded again as the enormous doors of the throne room silently swung open. Seras entered like an approaching storm front, implacable and unstoppable. As she entered she walked with all the poise and dignity she could muster. In doing so her entire countenance changed from that of a cheery and fun loving young woman to that of a proper queen, a cold mask of indifference beneath which raged endless fires of fury and passion.

As she reached him she began to bow only to be stopped by his finger beneath her chin. He raised her head back up and looked her straight in the eyes. He then shocked her further by reaching down with his other hand to take hers, he then lifted it to his lips and kissed it softly.

As he lowered her hand back to her side he spoke in a whisper just loud enough to be heard around the entire room. "You no longer need bow to anyone, my Queen." Keeping her hand in his he led her to stand at his left.

He gazed back out into the crowd to see many faces contorted in anger. He grinned slightly as he thought, _'So who will be the first to protest?'_

"My Lord, I must protest this action!" called out a woman with golden yellow eyes raven hair and tanned skin.

Vladimir mentally rolled his eyes. _"I should've known it would be her.'_ He spoke in a commanding yet somewhat bored tone. "The throne recognizes Aryah Caal Lady of the Gangrel."

"My Lord you cannot take this _woman_ to be your queen! She is of your blood as she was once your fledgling! As such she cannot be your queen!" Lady Aryah shouted. "The laws of the council clearly state that if a Lord or Lady is to take a partner the partner must be of another clan! She is of your clan and thus cannot be your queen!"

Seras made a growling sound in the back of her throat as Lady Aryah finished her speech. Vladimir motioned with his hand for her to be quiet. As he did a deeply hooded figure emerged from the crowd and bowed.

"The Lady of the Gangrel does have a good point my King." said the figure in a raspy voice.

"The throne recognizes Ramone Lathal, Lord of the Nosferatou." Vladimir intoned somewhat coldly.

Ramone bowed again before speaking. "My King, while I believe that the Lady Victoria would make an excellent queen of our nation I find that I must agree with Lady Aryah. The law does state than should a clan leader feel the need to take a companion, the companion must be from another clan, in fact you wrote the law almost a thousand years ago in order to promote inter-clan relations."

The king nodded sagely. "True I did write that law to promote peace between the clans, but I am not a member of a clan am I? I am the King. If I took a companion from any one clan it might be construed as favoritism. This would not be acceptable in a king"

Ramone nodded his understanding of his kings reasoning.

"It is still unacceptable that our king should take his own fledgling as a companion, much less as his queen!" Aryah declared with a look of fury.

"Silence, you hypocritical bitch!" shouted out another woman with bone white hair and onyx eyes.

"The throne recognizes Katherina Rieekan, Lady of the LeSambre."

Katherina bowed to her king before turning back to face a fuming Lady Aryah. "It is a well known and socially accepted fact that many Lords and Ladies here turn humans for the sole purpose of making them their companions! You yourself are guilty of this twice over as some here could attest!"

The two women glowered at each other in silence for a few moments before a man's voice interrupted their glorified staring contest.

"My brother and I agree with the Lady of the LeSambre both in defense of our King's actions and her statement regarding Lady Caal's actions." He stepped out of the crowd revealing himself to be a young man wearing a white tuxedo with tussled blonde hair and electric blue eyes. Directly behind him stood another man in the same tuxedo only he had straight black hair and emerald eyes.

"The throne recognizes Mikhael and Vladimir Caal, Lord's of the clanless."

Both bowed before the blue eyed one spoke. "Lords and Ladies let us cease this bickering over our King's decisions. Our King has, after so many years, found himself a suitable queen. We should be celebrating this fact, not arguing whether or not he can do it. As no one here could produce a legitimate reason Lady Victoria cannot be Queen let us cease this pointless debate and move on to more real matters."

"Thank you Lord Mikhael, I appreciate your assistance in ending this foolish argument." the king announced with a sigh. "As we have exhausted my patience on this matter I now declare this matter closed to discussion."

Once more there was a smattering of grumbles from around the room but no one said anything.

"Before we move onto the more mundane council matters I have one further announcement." Vladimir said matter-of-factly. "It has recently come to my attention that I have lived an incredibly long count of years. I have walked the worlds for almost eight millennia, and all that time I have been King. While I do not age I grow increasingly weary of my crown and my throne, that is why I have chosen to share them with my Queen."

He sighed deeply and continued. As he did his tone became more and more commanding. "However I have also decided that just sharing my throne is not enough. I am sure that someday I will tire of it entirely and will wish to give it up. For this reason I have chosen an heir, an eventual replacement for me who will one day inherit my position."

Murmurs quickly spread throughout the room. Some looked worried while others were obviously confused. Still others seemed to almost glow with pride, each one believing that they were the mightiest and therefore would be named heir. Not a one ever considered that their King had not specified that he had chosen from those assembled before him.

"Thus without further ado I give you my son and heir, Naruto Tepes, the No-Life Prince!"

* * *

**Why did no one guess Crescent Rose? Seriously? You guys thought I would give Naruto a Human weapon when his parents have such epic non-human weapons? Come on people!**

**Before anybody yells at me yes I know that I am using the clans from VTM. I happen to play that game so I know quite a bit about each one so I just used them. Besides, I needed someone to cause problems on the vampire side. Lady Caal will be the vampiric equivalent of Sakura's mom, could someone tell me what her name is?**

**If you are curious the thirteen clans are the following**

**Caitiff  
Brujah  
LeSambre (I know its wrong but I don't care)  
Gangrel  
Nosferatou  
Malkavian  
Assamite  
Ravnos  
Toreador  
Tremere  
Tzimisce  
Ventrue  
Giovanni  
**

**Also I borrowed the Generations idea but I tweeked it a little. I made Alucard Generation 0. Seras and Naruto are Generation 1. Anyone they sire are Generation 2. At Generation three they split into clans so most of the clan leaders are here. I'm sure you can figure out the rest.**

**H.U.:Yay, Three chapters and I'm not dead yet!**

**Naruto: Write the next one faster! The people want to see more of my epicness!**

**H.U.: Is that even a word?**

**Naruto: Don't ask stupid questions, just TYPE!**

**H.U.: Whatever you say! Just don't hurt me!**


	4. Chapter 4

**H.U.: Hey everybody how yall doin?**

**Naruto: I don't believe this.**

**H.U.: What? What did I do wrong this time?**

**N: This update is late, again.**

**H.U.: Um... **

**Yeah sorry about the tardiness. Blame it on my little voices. They made me start a whole new story before I have even really gotten going on this one! They are such slave drivers sometimes. Although as promised this chapter is over ten thousand words, so it should make up for how short the last one was.**

**Now it's time for review replies!**

**Black Artist: You should have said so man!**

**Duanemaster: Really, are you sure? 'Cause, damn she's weak, how'd they let that happen?**

**Barbque: Thank you for the info. I can now insult her properly.**

**Chillman22: Um... Duh!**

**Dis Lexic: I personally prefer Malkavian. Also I think you might have misspelled your name. Oh... never mind, I get it now. **

**Krazyfanfiction1: I think that is actually multiple questions, but its mostly weapons and stuff.**

**Cook563: Nope, that's how I'm starting this chapter.**

**RandomWriter21: He will, starting next chapter.**

**GuestDKB: Honestly, I figured he'd just listen to classic rock, it works in any situation.**

**Hanmac: Sorry NaruHina only, good suggestion though I'll keep it in mind.**

**Lunarwolf150: They'll be given to the people who get turned.**

**DarkRift6709: Team formation.**

**BlackShadesofRed: Um...no. Sorry I don't really like them enough to do that.**

**Enough conversations, it'd time for the story! Please enjoy the product of my Coffee and Lemon induced hallucinations!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the cool stuff that appears in this story. The crazy stuff and the weird stuff, that's mine.**

* * *

Chapter Four: Proof of Worth

The throne room of Blood-Borne Hall was eerily silent as Naruto made his way to the throne to stand beside his father. Many in the mass of vampires looked at him with an amount of shock or confusion in their expressions. Others sneered in disgust while a few kept their thoughts veiled behind emotionless masks. Annoyingly there were also a number of women who were looking at Naruto with undisguised lust, which deeply bothered the young prince. The uncomfortable silence continued until Naruto finally stopped walking as he stood to the side and slightly behind his father. Then the silence was broken like a dam as a plethora of voices clamored to be heard.

Once phrase in particular rose above the rest as a man shouted. "My King you must be mad! First an ex-fledgling as Queen and now this? This… this boy is no more suited to be your heir than a Human would be!"

Another called out in agreement with the first. "He is not one of us, he has no right to be heir!"

A third screamed out. "The king has lost his mind!"

Hearing the third comment Naruto's temper flared to its limits. What the first guy had said ticked him off, but now he was pissed. Insults directed towards himself he could deal with he had grown accustomed to them when he lived in Konoha. These people though had dared to insult his father and his king, their king! There was no excuse for that kind of behavior and no mercy in the punishment!

Before Naruto could begin his search for the offender his father placed a firm hand upon his shoulder and gave an almost imperceptible shake of his head. Naruto's head fell to his chest in embarrassment, he had almost completely lost control of his temper, and right in front of his father no less! As he put his head down he couldn't see the small smile that graced his father's stern features. He was proud of his son's defensive reactions towards the slights.

"If there are any among you who truly doubt this boy's worthiness, step forward and make yourself known!" Vladimir called out in a tone that allowed no arguments.

After a moment three figures detached themselves from the crowd. All wore long black robes indicating that they were clan leaders. Unsurprisingly the only one that had the hood of the robe down to reveal their face was the Lady of the Gangrel.

In truth Vladimir wasn't surprised in the least by the Lady's actions, she had been a constant thorn in his side since the day she became a clan head. She was constantly vying for more power and used every opportunity she could find to wield it to crush any and all opposition. Truthfully while he personally wasn't afraid of her in the least, he feared that her ambition and lust for power would lead to the downfall of the entire kingdom. Unfortunately the Gangrel and their allies made up the majority of all vampires; he couldn't afford to kill her just to get rid of her. Not yet anyway.

"Lady Caal, what reason do you and your… _friends _have to doubt this boy's worthiness?"

The Lady responded with a tight lipped smile that gave her a cold and calculating look. "We don't have any objections, we just wish his worthiness to be proven before the entire council."

"How would you have him do this?" the King replied with narrowed eyes.

"Through combat, of course. I suggest a duel between the boy and a champion of our choosing." Her smile became even colder and more venomous. "Should the boy emerge victorious he shall retain his status as your heir. Should he lose however he must relinquish all claims of titles and power, and the council shall choose a suitable replacement to be named your heir."

Vladimir was about to tell the Lady and her friends that he would never allow such a thing to happen. Not under the conditions she proposed at any rate. Another voice though, cut him off before he could speak though.

"I accept, name your champion, and bring him forward. I will prove my worth to all of you here and now." Naruto declared with a commanding tone.

The three clan heads bowed slightly before turning to each other and beginning to converse in whispers.

Seras looked at her son with concerned eyes. "Are you sure about this Naruto? You don't have to do it this way."

Naruto returned her concerned look with a relaxed smile. "I'm sure. I think I can take on any two of these idiots and still win. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine."

His father said nothing although a small frown marred his face as he thought. _'You aren't wrong my son, there are few in this room who truly could defeat you. However, they will likely call upon one who can.'_

The three clan leaders finished their quiet conversation and turned to face the throne.

The Lady Caal stepped forward with a predatory grin. "We have decided on our champion. We call upon the Black Dragon of the LeSambre!"

A few members of the crowd gasped in shock as the room went silent. Even the King looked slightly shocked at their announcement.

Meanwhile a young man made his way through the crowd to stand next to the group of clan leaders. He wore loose black samurai robes that draped around his small frame like a shroud. Upon his wrists and shins he wore small metal splints as armor. A katana in a black metal sheath hung at his side on a silver sash. His light red hair was bound in a loose ponytail by a cord of the same color. His face was youthfully innocent but his strange amethyst eyes shone with passion while an X-shaped scar marred his left cheek.

The man bowed quickly and politely as he introduced himself. "This one is Kenshin Himura, fifth generation free-blood of the clan LeSambre. In the name of the council this one now challenges Naruto Tepes to a duel."

Naruto returned the bow and responded in an equally polite tone. "I, Naruto Tepes, first generation fledgling accept the challenge."

Vladimir shook his head. This was one of the people he had been worried about, but there was nothing he could do about it now. "The challenge has been issued and accepted. I ask that members of the audience move to the upper balconies so as to clear the floor for the duelists."

After a moment the floor cleared as the clan leaders and their entourages were crowded into the balconies ringing the throne room.

"Duelists, make ready for combat." the King commanded. "The duel will be to the first blood."

Kenshin crouched down into a battoujutsu stance. Naruto remained standing across from his opponent completely nonchalantly. They both then nodded to their king, to indicate their readiness.

The King nodded. "Begin!"

Kenshin surprised Naruto by launching himself across the room as he drew his sword. Kenshin had hoped that his speed would throw his opponent off guard and allow him to end the match in the first move. Naruto was surprised by his opponents speed, but his father was much faster, because of this he jumped to the side letting the attack fly right by him. He then had to duck as Kenshin spun on one foot as he meant to stab Naruto's chest. Almost instantly he had to jump back as Kenshin had turned his blade and slashed straight down at Naruto's exposed chest. Naruto landed several feet away, as he stood up he met his opponents cool gaze.

He tilted his head respectfully as he addressed his enemy. "You're a lot faster than you look."

"This one takes that as a compliment." Kenshin replied with a straight face as he sheathed his sword once more. "Though this one must say the same of you. Not many people can completely dodge this one's strikes, though this one wonders how long you can keep doing it."

Once more he charged Naruto at high speed, this time though he didn't draw his sword when he started. However as he neared his sword all but leapt from it's sheath adding the speed of his run with the speed of his blade. In fact the blade was moving so fast that it became no more than a blur even to Naruto's enhanced senses. The young vampire stepped back allowing the blade to fly by his chest with barely an inch to spare. As he did he saw Kenshin's other hand flying at him out of the corner of his eye.

"Hiten Mitsurugi: Soryusen!" shouted the red haired swordsman.

The sheath for Kenshin's sword was on a direct course for a blow to Naruto's head, and he was still off balance from his last dodge making it impossible for him to do so again. All he could do was block the sheath with something.

Moving almost impossibly fast Naruto's hand shot to his back to grab his weapon. In an instant Crimson Moon had unfolded back to its true form. Using the haft Naruto blocked Kenshin's swing. Using the momentum of Kenshin's own strike Naruto spun the scythe in his hand hoping to catch his enemy of guard under his chin with the counterweight on the back of the head. Unfortunately Kenshin saw the incoming blow and jumped back several feet.

Kenshin looked at Naruto with obvious curiosity and confusion. "Isn't a weapon like that a little big for you?" He commented.

Naruto glanced quickly at his weapon and then shot Kenshin a conspiratorial smile. "Yeah, it would be to big for me, if I were human that is. Since I'm not human though I see no reason to be limited to what a human could use."

"You make a good point." Kenshin replied conceding the point. " Even so, wielding a weapon of that size will only slow you down with its weight. If you can't catch this one, you won't win."

"Is that so?" Naruto replied with a sly grin. "I guess I'll just have to prove you wrong then won't I?"

Kenshin watched as the younger vampire's grip on his weapon tightened. Surprisingly though Naruto didn't attack, in fact he didn't even move from where he was standing. Instead he spun his scythe in his hand until the blade and the haft were parallel to the ground while the spear point on the end of the haft was pointed squarely at Kenshin's heart. Smirking Naruto fingered the large metal block in the center of the haft and closed around a small lever sticking out from the side. He yanked on it quickly producing a small 'ch-chack' sound, like that of a gun being loaded.

"I hope you can dodge as fast as you can attack." Naruto said with a serious frown. "I'd prefer not to kill you if I can help it."

His stance shifted forward as he lifted the head of the scythe into the air behind him. He took a deep breath and focused on his target.

"Here I come, don't blink." he murmured.

The tip of the scythe jerked a bit a a small puff of smoke appeared with a loud 'crack'. Kenshin leaped to the side as Naruto rocketed towards him trailing behind his scythe. Almost instantly his warrior instinct told him to jump, as he did he saw Naruto hurtle back the other way right through the space he had just vacated. While in midair Kenshin was able to see Naruto catch one of the many pillars around the edge of the room and use it to change directions. The boy landed in a roll that brought him to a halt just a few feet from where Kenshin landed.

Without waiting for the boy to regain his footing Kenshin charged him at full speed. As he neared his still crouched opponent he used battoujutsu in the hopes of ending the duel in one final move. Unexpectedly his blade encountered the black metal shaft of the scythe halting his attack. With another ear ringing 'crack' the massive weapon suddenly lurched with massive force knocking both the sword and its wielder back several feet.

Seeing an opening in the swordsman's guard for the first time Naruto seized the opportunity and attacked. He spun, he slashed, he stabbed, he clubbed, he even tried to shoot his opponent, but nothing connected. The red haired swordsman met every attack he could with his blade, those he couldn't he dodged like it was natural. This continued for almost a minute until, after one particularly brutal exchange, the two combatants separated looking as if nothing had happened.

As he watched for his opponent's next move Naruto was laughing internally. _'Man, this guy is good, I mean really good! Granted, he's not as good as Dad, but still, he's something else! Even with the recoil strikes I can't break through his guard, and I'm having to do all I can to not get smashed by his counterattacks! This guy is one hell of a swordsman!'_

**_ 'If you're done ogling your opponent like an idiot I would suggest you do something! In case you've forgotten we have a duel to win!'_ **Kurama growled from the recesses of the young vampire's mind.

_'I'm well aware of what I need to do fluffy.'_ Naruto replied with a slight snarl. '_Since you obviously haven't been paying attention, I can't hit the dude! It makes it kinda hard to make him bleed and thus win if I can't even land a blow on him!'_

_** 'You know you don't actually have to hit him to make him bleed you dunce.'** _Kurama muttered darkly.

_ 'What do you mean I don't have to hit him? Of course I have to hit him!'_ Naruto mentally shouted in reply. _'I just haven't figured out how yet! He keeps blocking me or dodging my strikes every time I attack!'_

**_ 'Then stop using your weapon ya twit.' _** sighed the fox.

'_Then what would I do, use my fists? Are you trying to make me lose?'_ Naruto replied angrily.

Deep with Naruto's mindscape a hundred foot tall fox slammed his head against a wall repeatedly in frustration.

**_'You're a vampire you freaking moron!' _** Kurama roared. **_'Use your magic, or your shadow, or something! I refuse to work with a vampire who would lose to someone four generations below them! Seriously it would ruin my reputation!'_**

_'Jeez, you don't have to be so friggin loud you over-grown plush toy!'_ Naruto yelled in reply. _'Contrary to what you may think I'm well aware of the fact that I could use something besides my weapon. It just doesn't seem fair to me.'_

Whatever Kurama was going to say in reply was forestalled by their opponent charging at them once more.

Naruto managed to block Kenshin's blade at the last moment. Surprisingly though the swordsman didn't try and push through Naruto's guard. Instead he spun to the side and withdrew his blade.

"Hiten Mitsurugi: Ryukansen!"

With a jolt Naruto realized what his opponent was doing. Kenshin had struck Naruto's guard purposely to get him distracted. The he had spun to add centrifugal force to the blow that was about to land on his unprotected back if he didn't do something about it. Thus he used Crimson Moon as a pole to vault himself away from his enemy. As he landed though he saw Kenshin advancing to attack again.

"Hiten Mitsurugi: Ryusosen!"

Kenshin struck out with a barrage of lightning fast blows. Using his scythe like he would a quarterstaff Naruto managed to block them all. Even so, he was thoroughly shaken by the power and the ferocity behind each strike.

Kenshin saw that Naruto was still a bit off balance from the last attack and took the chance to strike again. He shot towards his opponent and stopped in a crouch a mere foot away.

"Hiten Mitsurugi: Ryshosen!"

Kenshin sprang up from his crouch like a rocket. He held his blade out in front of himself with the blade towards the sky. On instinct Naruto leaned back just a few inches. As the blade and its wielder flew by Naruto realized that if he hadn't leaned back Kenshin's blade would've sunk deep into the soft tissues of his throat. Unfortunately he didn't get the chance to make use of his momentary reprieve.

"Hiten Mitsurugi: Ryutsuisen!"

Kenshin was coming back down like a meteor with his blade in the lead. He had focused all his weight and strength into his sword as it fell towards Naruto like a guillotine.

Naruto knew that even with his speed that if he tried to jump to safety there was no way he would make it. Thus he fire Crimson Moon twice and allowed himself to be launched across the room by the recoil. Even so Kenshin's blade nicked the sole of his shoe.

Another spontaneous pause in the combat occurred as the two rose from their respective landings. Locking eyes the two stared at each other, each trying to guess his opponents next move and come up with a way to counter it.

_'Hey, fuzzball you awake in there?'_ Naruto mentally called.

_'**Of course I'm awake ya jerk! With all the banging around you're doing it's like there's an earthquake in**_ _**here, so of course I'm awake!'** _Kurama replied testily.

_ 'Well excuse me if I messed up your nap! Look, I'm going to need you to shield me the next time he attacks, then you'll counter attack. So get ready for a level three release.' _Naruto commanded.

**_'Oh yeah, that'll work, mhm. This'll go friggin great.'_** scoffed the fox sarcastically.

_'Of course it will work!' _Naruto shot back. _'No one would ever expect a fledgling like me to be able to use, or even have, a familiar!'_

**_ 'That's true for most vampires kit.' _**Kurama replied in a softer tone. _'**However, you are a first gen fledgling. The normal rules of what you can and can't do are out the window for you. Beyond that your opponent is a LeSambre, shadow attacks won't work on him.'**_

_ 'What? Why not?'_

_** 'Oh for the love of... Don't you remember anything your father taught you about the various clans?'** _the fox cried out.

_'Honestly... no.'_

Kurama groaned and debated slamming his head against the wall again, he decided that he had a big enough headache already.

_'**The LeSambre's primary skill and power is shadow manipulation! If you call me out he'll just call his out, and while I maybe more powerful than his familiar he has more practice using his in a combat situation! We would just wind up in another stalemate!'**_

_ 'Alright, I get it! So what am I supposed to do now? If my weapon won't work against him and you would just prolong the stalemate what should I do?'_

_ '**You have magic you moron, use it!**' _Kurama howled.

"Young one?" Kenshin said jolting Naruto back to reality.

"Yeah?"

"You are a great warrior, that much is obvious. It has been a very long time since anyone has made this one work this hard, that it has." Kenshin commented with a small smile. "This one believes you are a truly worthy heir to the throne of our King, that you are. Unfortunately the duel won't end until one of us is bleeding. So this one has a deal for you. If you make it through the next attack, this one shall not strike again."

"As much as I like the sound of it, how do I know that this isn't a trick?" Naruto said skeptically.

"This one swears upon his sword that the next attack shall be the last." Kenshin replied holding his sword out in front of him.

**_'Take his offer kit.' _** Kurama whispered.

_'Are you sure about this?'_

**_ 'I'm sure, this guy is a true samurai to the core. People like him would rather be tortured and then brutally executed than break their word. Not to mention the fact that he swore upon his sword.'_ **replied the fox with just a hint of awe.

_'What does his sword have to do with anything, it's just a sword.'_

_** 'To a true samurai, his sword is his life. Most of them are given their blades just after birth and carry them until the day they die. Many are even buried with their swords still at their sides. If he were to break an oath that he made upon his sword he would have to personally break the sword and then commit Hara-kiri using the shards. For a samurai to be killed by your own blade is the ultimate dishonor.'** _Kurama explained.

_'Damn, I guess he really means it then.'_

"I think I'll take your deal Kenshin, and, for the record, you are one of the greatest fighters I have ever had the pleasure of meeting." Naruto said as he readied himself for the final attack.

Kenshin smirked as he stood up out of his crouch and brought his blade before his body. "Here, it, comes. Hiten Mitsurugi: Kuzuryusen!"

The swordsman unleashed a huge amount of youkai energy which formed a golden aura around him. Within that aura nine kanji, representing the nine basic strikes of all kenjutsu styles appeared. He then charged straight at Naruto with incredible speed.

Naruto was absolutely horrified as Kenshin approached him. If he tried to dodge or block any of the nine strikes at least one of the others would catch him and the duel would end with his loss. His only choice was to come up with a way to block all nine strikes at once. He only knew of one way to possibly do that. He crouched down on one knee and held his scythe out behind himself with one hand. The other hand went through a short series of hand seals before punching the ground.

As he did he murmured a short phrase. "Onipou: Tetsu Shirudo." (Demon Art: Shield of Iron)

A dull gray mass suddenly materialized in front of Naruto and took the form of a half dome over the crouching fledgling. Kenshin's eyes widened at the sudden appearance of the wall that now existed between himself and his target. Unfortunately due to the way that Kuzuryusen was performed he had no way to try and avoid it. All he could do was hope that his strikes we be powerful enough to cut through the barrier Naruto had created. They weren't, not quite, but they had more than enough power to cut through more than six inches of the wall with each blow. When the last strike was complete Kenshin leapt back several feet as the iron wall crumbled to dust. Naruto stood back up and faced his opponent with a determined stare.

Kenshin smiled at the boy as he held out his sword in a defensive stance. "That was very impressive. You survived the strike, let us see if this one will be able to do the same."

Naruto nodded with a somber expression. As he did his left hand once more began to form hand signs. When his hand stopped he sucked in a huge breath.

"Onipou: Goka!" (Demon Art: Fires of Hell) he yelled as he exhaled a massive ball of black flames.

Kenshin gracefully leapt to the side allowing the fireball to tumble past him to explode against a wall where it continued to rage for several seconds. The jump though had landed him in a problem, while it had carried him away from the fireball he was about to land directly in the path of Naruto's scythe which was already in motion.

Reacting with a speed born of countless years of training and even more life or death battles Kenshin managed to block with the flat of his blade. Even with the block he was still in mid-air and thus was sent flying back several feet by the power behind the strike.

Seeing an opening Naruto struck again. Using the scythe like a vaulting pole he leapt over Kenshin before firing the weapon to add extra power to a devastating spin strike. Arching his back like a master acrobat Kenshin allowed the blade to slice through the air mere inches from his stomach. Just as quickly he was forced to spin to the side to avoid the spear blade that had suddenly shot at his face. He then leapt back to try and put some distance between himself and his suddenly aggressive foe.

Naruto quickly followed after with a single bound. As he sailed through the air his hand began yet another series of hand signs. As he landed he punched the ground again.

"Onipou: Taju Tetsu Kiba." (Many Iron Fangs)

The ground rumbled slightly before a line of massive iron spikes erupted from the ground. The line started just in front of Naruto and continued towards Kenshin as more spikes continued to erupt. As the line approached Kenshin leapt to the sky.

Naruto smirked, his father had taught him more than just the skills of battle, he had also learned strategy, to think through your opponents moves before they can make them and strike accordingly to maximize their effect. After observing Kenshin's movements and reactions in the first part of their duel Naruto felt sure that Kenshin would jump to avoid this particular attack. It appeared that he was correct, so now was the time for him to finish the duel.

He began to sign as fast as he physically could. Previously his spells had required only five or six seals before use, but now he flashed through twenty six without pause. As Kenshin reached the apex of his jump Naruto's hand ceased it movement.

"Onipou: Gufu no Ken!" (Storm of Swords)

With his spell now active Naruto extended his scythe away from his body and began to spin. As he did a thick white mist began to form around the scythe's blade. The faster he spun the thicker the mist appeared and the more of it there was. After a few moments of spinning he pulled his weapon in close to his body. The white disk was now so thick and spinning so fast that it appeared to be a solid object. Suddenly he stopped and thrust his weapon to the sky. The disk followed and shot into the air.

In mid air Kenshin and the disk collided. He had expected to pass right through it thinking that this was simply a way of blinding him to his enemy's movements, he was quite mistaken. When he hit it was like he had slammed into a thorn bush. He slowly moved through it but as he did he could feel thousands of tiny lacerations appearing on his skin. In short order his clothes were in shreds and his body's vampiric healing factor was unable to cope with the damage.

When the swordsman reappeared from the bottom of the cloud his skin was criss-crossed by hundreds of small but deep lacerations that bled profusely.

He landed on the ground a few feet from Naruto with a grunt of pain. Seeing his opponent was down Naruto folded Crimson Moon back to its holstered state and ran to his downed enemy.

Kenshin smiled painfully but brightly as Naruto approached. Here was a kid after his own heart, a vampire, a soulless monster of the night, one who wielded immense skill and power, and yet remained a truly honorable warrior. The smile was still there as Naruto offered a hand up. Kenshin clasped hands with the boy and allowed himself to be pulled to his feet.

Vladimir slowly stood up from his throne quickly catching the attention of everyone else in the room. "Kenshin Himura bleeds! Naruto Tepes is the victor of the duel and retains the title of No-Life Prince!" He looked around the room meaning fully at the clan heads. "The Council meeting shall resume at the third hour of tomorrow. Until then you are dismissed to see to your own business."

Almost as one the crowd of vampires rose from their seats and bowed before slowly shuffling towards the exits. Once the last of the crowd had left and the doors were secured behind them Seras rushed down from the podium to embrace her son.

"Oh, I'm so proud of you Naruto! I knew you could do it! I knew no one out there could beat you!" she said quickly while hugging with all of her considerable might, which had the unfortunate effect of almost crushing the object of her affections ribcage.

"Mother, while I, ungh, appreciate your concern, I, argh, somewhat, enjoy, ugh, breathing!" Naruto managed to gasp out.

Seras quickly realized what he meant and blushed fiercely as she let go and took a few steps back. "Sorry I was just so happy that you won, I guess I kinda got carried away!" she paused for a moment and then hurriedly added, "I don't mean that I didn't think you would win, I knew you were gonna win! It's just that when they announced who you were going to have to fight I, well, I got a little nervous."

Naruto cocked his head to the side. "What do you mean by that? I mean Kenshin was a tough opponent and all but, he wasn't unbeatable or anything."

Seras fidgeted a bit before replying. "I know he's not invincible. It's just that, well, there is a reason he's called the Black Dragon. He's pretty well known around here for being an incredible swordsman."

Naruto's eyes became as wide as dinner plates as he turned to Kenshin who had just walked up. "You're famous!?"

Kenshin nodded and sighed. "This one believes it would be more accurate to say infamous, but yes, a little."

Seras scoffed and playfully swatted the red heads shoulder. "Stop being so humble, you should be proud of your legends. Back when I was human I loved to read books about your adventures!"

"This one didn't think his adventures were subdued enough for children's stories." Kenshin said with wide eyes.

She swatted him again. "Oh stop it, just tell him who you are already will ya?"

"Oh, very well. Arguing with the queen is not likely to end well for this one." Kenshin sighed in a weary tone. "In all reality this one is actually almost a hundred and fifty years older than your mother. When this one was Human he was considered to be one of the best swordsmen in the world. Everyone in this one's nation called me Hitokiri Battosai and feared my blade for the Hiten Mitsurugi style was almost unbeatable. Later though this one slowly lost the ability to use the style and settled down. Unfortunately the past eventually came back to haunt me with the deaths of my wife and son. But that is a story for another time. Suffice to say once this one was changed he quickly became recognized as the greatest vampiric swordsman in the world."

Naruto stared at him with his mouth hanging open like a fish, his eyes wide and blinking quickly. After a moment of this he shook his head a returned to his more usual look.

"So basically what you two are telling me is that I just beat one of the world's greatest swordsmen, right?" Naruto asked sagely.

The two older vampires nodded.

Naruto's face lit up like the sun. "Sweet! I am so cool!"

Kenshin was a little taken aback as Naruto began to jump up and down with excitement. "Um, this one does not wish to rain on your parade but, he feels he should mention that he didn't go all out."

Naruto looked at him for a second before hanging his head down to his chest and mumbling, "I am so not cool."

Kenshin face palmed at Naruto's reaction. _'This is the next King of vampires? We are in sooo much trouble.'_

"If I might interrupt there is a matter that I wish to address." Vladimir said as he approached the small gathering.

Kenshin Whirled around and bowed deeply. "Your Majesty."

"Rise, I have a question for you Mr. Himura." Vladimir said with a glint in his eye. "While watching the two of you battle I realized that there is much I cannot teach Naruto due to the way he fights. Thus I wish to ask you if you would be willing to be both his combat sensei, and his bodyguard."

Kenshin was honestly stunned by the offer. He had protected individuals and small groups before, but never for more than a few days or so. He had no experience at being a true bodyguard. On the other hand, the duties of a bodyguard were something many samurai aspired to achieve. Now he was being given a chance to guard the third most important person in the vampiric world as well as his future King.

After a moment of silent contemplation Kenshin nodded to himself before kneeling down in front of Naruto. He offered his sword out to Naruto hilt first before speaking. "Naruto Tepes, I offer you my sword and my service until you release me, or death takes me. Do you accept my offer?"

Naruto said nothing for a moment before lightly pushing the proffered sword back towards Kenshin. "Of course I accept it, I mean I need someone to keep me company. But, I have one condition, don't ever call me lord or anything like that, just call me Naruto."

Kenshin stood back up and nodded as he resheathed his sword. "This one thinks he can deal with that."

"Good, 'cause if you kept saying my lord and bowing to me every time we talked, I'm pretty sure I would go crazy."

Vladimir chuckled in his deep voice. "It is good to see you two are already getting along so well. Kenshin, you may have the room across the hallway from Naruto's. I have heard it is hard to defend someone form a mile away,"

Kenshin laughed lightly. "That is true, that it is."

The newly minted bodyguard then whirled around and grabbed Naruto by the cowl of his jacket and began to drag him away.

"Come along, there is a lot of training yet to do, and little time to do it in, that there is not!" Kenshin said in a disturbingly cheerful voice.

Naruto couldn't help but shudder as memories of his last training session appeared in his mind.

After training for many hours with Kenshin two thoughts dominated Naruto's weary mind as he made his way to his coffin.

Firstly Kenshin was a slave driver when it came to training. Not as bad as his dad of course but he was pretty sure he was going to have several nightmares about a certain waterfall, a certain pointed stick and that damn rabbit. It was bad enough that they had dueled each other earlier in the day but then he had train with the same dude! He was sore in places that he didn't even know he had, and considering all the stuff he had found while training the first time, that was pretty disturbing.

The other thing that he was sure of was that he was homesick. He loved being with this new family that loved him, but he just felt there was something missing. As much as he hated to admit it, there was a part of him that wanted to go back to Konoha. Not so much because he missed the town, more because he missed some of the people there.

He shook his head to clear his mind of such thoughts as he lowered himself into the coffin. which in all reality was more like a bed with a lid and walls than something to bury the dead in, but that might have just been his. After a few more minutes he was sound asleep.

* * *

Time passed and Naruto found himself standing in the Hokage's office. Just like he remembered the old man, the Sandaime Hokage, sat at the desk filling out paperwork and grumbling to himself. Naruto smiled at the sight of the old man who had helped him so many times throughout his life. Part of him wanted to go and talk to him, but he knew this was a dream, so it wouldn't do any good. So he just stood around and hummed a little ditty to himself as he waited for the dream to progress.

Finally just after he finished his little ditty there was a loud knock at the door.

"Thank Kami, a distraction." the old man grumbled before calling out, "Come in."

In walked a man who made Naruto's blood run hot and cold at the same time, Hiashi Hyuuga, or as Naruto liked to think of him 'The Head Hyuuga Asshole'. As head of the 'prestigious' and 'powerful' Hyuuga clan Hiashi wielded tremendous political power which he wielded with almost disturbing efficiency. Even though he wasn't supposed to, Naruto knew that many times it had been Hiashi who had incited the mobs who would then hunt Naruto down. Other times he would command a member of the Branch family to attempt to kill Naruto outright, and when they failed he would execute them himself without a second thought. The thing that Naruto hated the most about the man wasn't any of that, it was the way he treated his daughter, Hinata.

If Naruto was to be completely honest one would discover that he had actually had a crush on Hinata for a long time. Of course she didn't know that because he was terrified of getting close to her. He was afraid that if he told her how he felt she would get hurt by the people who hated him as well as her family. As much as he loved her he refused to let her get hurt because of him.

"Ah, Hiashi-san how good to see you on this fine day. Have a seat." said the Hokage with a level of professional courtesy. Naruto knew the old man wasn't Hiashi's biggest fan either.

"Thank you for seeing me on such short notice Hokage-sama." Hiashi replied in a flat voice.

"It is no problem at all. So what may I do for you?" the old man asked.

"I wish to speak of something pertaining to my daughter." Hiashi said in his irritatingly formal way.

"Which daughter would we be speaking about, Hinata of Hanabi?"

"Hinata."

"I see, and what specifically did you wish to speak about regarding Hinata?"

"I wish to have her removed from the ninja academy." Hiashi replied calmly as if he had just said something totally normal.

'_What the hell kind of dream is this?' _Naruto wondered. '_Seriously, why the fuck would I have a dream in which my crush has her greatest dream taken away from her? I wouldn't. Although I have to admit, that is totally the sort of dick move Hiashi would make in real life. Hang on a second here...I'm starting to think this may not actually be a dream.'_

"May I ask to hear the reason why you have decided to remove your daughter from the ninja program?" the Hokage asked in a somewhat peeved tone.

"After a long series of debates and discussions the elders of the clan and myself have decided that the life of a Kunoichi is far to dangerous for the likes of a clan heiress." Hiashi answered emotionlessly. "It is our belief that she is not suited for such a life as she is not mentally or physically strong enough to survive for long."

'_What do you mean she's not strong enough? She's a hell of a lot stronger than you think she is asshole. And she'd be even stronger if you actually cared about her as much as you do your fucking image!'_ Naruto silently raged.

The Hokage steepled his fingers in thought as he responded. "You make a very goos point Hiashi-san."

'_What!? Oh come on old man! You know just as well as I do how he treats her! He would rather be forced to commit suicide than accept her true strength!' _ Naruto begged.

"However, I am afraid that I cannot remove her from our academy at this time." the Hokage continued with a nearly invisible smirk. "Due to the disappearance of Naruto Uzumaki your daughters class has only enough students to form six teams if we assume all students pass. If I remove your daughter we won't have enough for full teams and we'll have to hold some students back a year. Unless We have a few join the class late I am afraid am unable to remove anyone from the class."

'_Oh Yeah, take that Hiashi! Score one for Hinata-chan!' _Naruto shouted as he began to dance around the room.

Hiashi's expression was totally unruffled as he stood up from his chair and bowed. "I understand, and I thank you for your time Hokage-sama." Hiashi quietly slipped out the door before the old Hokage could reply.

The old warrior sat down heavily with an audible sigh of weariness. He sat and rubbed at his temples for a moment before looking at the door that led to the balcony outside.

"You can come in now Hinata, he's gone, I promise." he said quietly.

The door opened slowly and silently as Hinata entered the office. As Usual She wore a thick white coat and tight lavender leggings. Tear tracks glistened down her porcelain cheeks as she quietly sobbed.

"I-I-I d-didn't mean t-to eavesd-drop H-Hok-kage-s-s-sama." she said quietly.

"It's quite all right my dear, I understand. You just wanted to know what we were talking about." the old man replied with a kind smile

She nodded. "W-why d-does he hat-te m-me so much? Am I-I r-r-really t-that w-weak?"

The old man smiled softly and pulled her into an embrace as he spoke. "No, you're not weak at all. Your father just thinks strength comes from your ability to fight, but I know it is so much more than just that. He can't see your strength yet, but one day, he will."

"T-Thank you H-H-Hok-kage-sama. I h-have one q-question though."

"Yes, what's the question?"

"H-have you f-found out w-when N-N-Naruto-kun will be b-back yet?" as she asked this a very obvious blush appeared on her cheeks.

The Hokage regarded her with downcast eyes. "I'm sorry my dear but I haven't been able to find out anything about where he went or when he might be back. But I'm sure that wherever he is he would be glad to know that you are worried about him."

'_Damn right I am!' _Naruto said with a sharp nod._ 'Especially since it's her. Hey, hold on a second here! If she's worried about me that means she cares about me! And if she cares about me that means... SHE LIKES ME!'_

"Oh, t-that's okay. I-If you f-f-f-ind out anyt-thing will y-you let-t me know?" Hinata asked with a hopeful expression.

"Of course I will. If I find out anything about Naruto you'll be the first to know, I promise." he replied with a tight lipped smile.

Hinata thanked the old man politely before exiting just as quietly as she had entered. Once the door closed behind her the old Hokage sighed deeply and leaned back in his chair.

"Naruto," he thought out loud, "wherever you are, I hope you come home soon, if only for a short time. Many people around here miss you terribly, I'm one of them. I, we, we just want to know your safe and happy."

He shook his head quickly to clear his mind before hunching back over the desk to keep working on hid paperwork. That didn't prevent Naruto from seeing the single tear that slowly made its way down his wrinkled face.

Seeing that tear Naruto made two important decisions. Firstly he was going to find a way to go back to Konoha to tell the old man that he was okay. More importantly though he decided that one day he would go back to Konoha and stay there for a while. Not for Konoha's sake, but for the people he cared about, and to make good on his promise. Once he reached his decision the scene in front of him seemed to fade away like a morning fog.

* * *

Naruto felt himself wake up. Almost immediately he threw the lid of his coffin open and rushed to his wardrobe to get dressed. Once he had his full regalia on he all but flew through the door of his room and shot down the hallway like a rocket. Not once had he even thought about where he was going he just went by instinct. After a little less than a minute of running he found himself standing in front of the door to his fathers library. He went to knock to see if anyone was there but the door opened to reveal his father looking as stern as he usually did.

"Naruto, what a surprise." he said with a hint of amusement. "I feel I should ask as to what could possibly be so important that you felt the need to run all the way here just to see me. So, what is it?"

Naruto's expression became one of grim determination. "I want to go back to Konoha."

His father raised an eyebrow. "Do you now, how interesting. I suppose you want to go there right now correct?"

Naruto just nodded.

The look of amusement returned. "Why would you wish to return to a place where the majority of the inhabitants want nothing better than to see your dead body?"

"There are some people there that I never got the chance to say goodbye to." Naruto replied.

"Would I be correct in assuming that one of these people is the old man known as the third Hokage?"

Naruto nodded again.

"Very well, you may go. I shall open a small portal back to your home town. Be warned though, I will not be able to hold it open for more than an hour so you will have to be quick." Vladimir replied with a serious expression.

The older vampire motioned for Naruto to move before beginning to mumble something under his breath while making strange motions with his hands. After about thirty seconds Naruto heard a 'whoosh' of displaced air. Naruto turned to see that the fireplace was gone. In its place was a rectangular vortex of energy.

He glanced at his father who simply nodded. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and stepped through.

He felt an instant of bone-chilling cold before it was replaced by a gentle warmth. He opened his eye to find himself standing in one of Konoha's many small public parks on a beautiful sunny day. He himself was standing in a small clearing amongst a group of trees bathed in light.

He chuckled lightly as he watched the light shine down on the exposed skin of his hands. As a first generation vampire he didn't have to worry about the whole spontaneously combusting in sunlight thing. Granted sunlight did make his skin itch pretty badly and it did seal away over half his powers, but it couldn't kill him, so he didn't care. For a few more moments he just stood and enjoyed the sun's gentle warmth.

After a few minutes he sighed and reached back and pulled the hood of his coat up and over his head. He stuck his hands in his pockets and, with his identity now hidden, began to saunter his way towards the Hokage tower.

A few minutes later he stood at the base of the tower looking three stories up at the windows that ringed the Hokage's office. Since he knew he wouldn't be allowed through the front doors he opted for a different approach. A few hand signs later he was perched on the railing of the Hokage's balcony like some strange exotic bird, courtesy of a little wind spell. He carefully peered through the window. Inside he saw the Hokage, as usual, hunched over his desk madly filling out paperwork and grumbling to himself. Thinking himself quite clever Naruto silently opened a window and sat in the open space.

The Hokage felt a breeze from the now open window an instantly became more alert. Only two people in all of Konoha would dare enter his office unannounced and through the window, Jiraiya and Anko. He also knew that it couldn,t possibly be either one of them. Jiraiya would've made some joke about his age the moment he opened the window, and he was known to be in the Land of Iron. Anko never actually opened the windows she came through she just smashed through them like a cannonball, and she was out on a reconnaissance mission to the Land of Grass. So this meant this was someone else, and whoever they were they weren't from Konoha.

"I know you're there." He grumbled as he grabbed one of the many Kunai he had secreted about his person. "I can feel the draft from the window."

"Crap, I really should have thought of that, my bad." replied a smooth, almost ageless, voice.

"If you are her to assassinate me I must say I'm neither particularly afraid or impressed. I know of several children from our ninja academy who are stealthier than you." the old warrior stated calmly and bluntly.

A trace of amusement and a tinge of hurt appeared in the voice's tone as it replied. "What on earth made you think I was here to kill you?"

"The fact that you attempted to sneak into my office makes me more than a little leery of your purpose here."

"Good point. I'm'really not here to kill you, honestly."

"Well if you aren't here to try and kill me then why don't you come and stand in front of my desk so that we may speak face to face?" the Hokage suggested politely.

In the blink of an eye the unknown intruder was standing before him. To his immense surprise the persons size and build indicated it was a young man, no older than twenty or so. He wore highly elaborate, and somewhat formal black clothes with red and silver highlights. His face was hidden in the shadows of a large hood.

"I must say that for a shinobi you have quite an ornate wardrobe." the Hokage commented with a small chuckle.

"I will take that as a compliment Lord Hokage. However you of all people should know that I am no shinobi." the intruder said with a hint of annoyance.

"You say that as if you believe I should recognize you. Yet you wear a hood to hide your face in shadow." the old man replied.

"Sorry, I forgot I had this on." The intruder quickly tugged the hood back revealing an angular face, long silver hair, and bright sapphire eyes. "Is this better?"

"While I do feel more comfortable now that I can see your face I must admit that your face is unfamiliar to me."

The intruders shoulders and head slumped as if saddened by the older mans response.

"You really don't recognize me? At all?"

"I'm afraid that I can't say I do."

A look of absolute depression settled on the young mans face. "Well, I guess I have changed a bit, but I had hoped you would at least recognized my eyes old man."

Hearing the intruders comment the old man grew curious and took a second look into the others eyes. At first they appeared to be just a normal pair of bright blue eyes. As the Hokage looked a little more carefully he saw more than just the color. He saw they weren't bright just because of their color, but also because of the boundless energy and emotion they contained. But there was something else as well. Deep down he saw loneliness and pain, horrible, unspeakable pain that could never be forgotten or healed.

A memory came to the front of the old man's mind. An image of a little blond-haired trouble-maker calling him old man in the same teasing manner as the intruder had, and staring up at him with those same pain-filled, yet somehow undimmed, blue eyes. A boy who had vanished over eight months previously.

"It can't be... you can't." The old man peered at the intruder with hopeful eyes. "Naruto? Is it really you?"

A grin appeared. "In the flesh Ojii-san!"

A true smile appeared on the Hokage's aged face as he closed his eyes and tried not to cry tears of joy. To him, Naruto was like another grandson he had never had.

Naruto laughed a bit at his surrogate grandfathers expression. "Don't start crying on me old man, it'll ruin your image! Besides, it's not like I died or anything."

The Hokage nodded and used a sleeve to wipe away the moisture from his eyes. "Where have you been my boy? When that man told me what had happened to you I was almost sick! Then he told me he was taking you away with him and I just didn't know what to do! So what exactly happened to you, and don't leave anything out."

Naruto sighed and sat down in the seat in front of the desk. After a moment of thinking he began his story. He told the old man everything, from the moment he had first been rescued to the strange dream that had brought him back. He even tried to explain all that he knew regarding what he had become.

When he had finished his story the Hokage leaned back in his chair and regarded the young vampire in front of him with piercing eyes. "That's quite a story you've got there Naruto. A lot of people would never believe it for just as many reasons. Thankfully, I'm not one of those people."

Naruto was stunned by the old man's easy acceptance. "Wait, you actually believe me?"

The Hokage smiled in a kind way. "Of course I do my boy, you've never lied to me before so why would you start now? Besides that story is far too unbelievable not to be true. Although I do have a few questions, if that's all right?"

"Ask away, just don't take to long, I can't stay forever."

"You said that your adoptive father id the King of all vampires and that you are his heir. To me this says that there are a lot of vampires on the world that no one knows about. Would you mind telling me how many of yo8ur kind there are?" the old man asked with obvious worry.

"Um, you know, I'm not really completely sure." Naruto replied sheepishly. "From what dad says though I would guess probably around a hundred thousand or so. Don't worry though, most of them live in the underworld in one of the clan strongholds or something.

"Thank you for that last bit. For a moment there I was worried that I was going to start seeing Vampire attacks everywhere." the Hokage said with a nervous chuckle.

"Oh, you don't have to worry about that Ojii-san. My dad made up all sorts of rules about where, when, and who we can feed on. Anyone who breaks the rules gets hunted down and killed by the black swords."

"I'm sorry, the who?"

"The black swords. Um, they're kinda like the vampiric police force." Naruto said after a pause. "It's a bunch of older vampires my dad trusts that he gave enchanted weapons designed to kill other vampires."

"Thank you again for telling me that, it takes a great weight off my chest. Now I'd like to know how powerful you are compared to the ninja of the village, honestly." the Hokage asked in a curious voice.

Naruto's brow furrowed in concentration for a moment before replying. "Well if you had me fight right now I'd only be around the level of a high genin since the sun blocks most of my powers. Once the sun goes down though I'm probably at least a high chunin. I'm as fast as most jonin but only as strong as a high genin."

The Hokage's eyebrows rose slightly in surprise. For someone so young you would be a truly powerful ninja Naruto. Though if you are as strong as you say, I'm curious to konow how strong your father is."

Naruto cocked his head to one side. "Why do you want to know that Ojii-san?"

"Curiosity mostly." the Hokage replied I encountered him he released an enormous amount of KI at us. Almost as great as the Kyuubi. Yet I could tell he was holding back. So I'm curious as to how strong he really is."

"In all honesty, I'm not really sure." Naruto answered with a sigh. "All the stories I've heard about the things he can do make him seem like some sort of god. What I do know is that when I was changed I saw him and the Kyuubi face off, and the fox seemed afraid, deathly afraid."

The old Hokage did all he could to keep the terror he was feeling inside from appearing on the outside. The Kyuubi was the strongest of the bijuu, any one of which could crush hundreds of shinobi with ease. Yet according to Naruto, his adoptive father, the one that had called himself Alucard, was much, much more powerful than any of the bijuu. A truly terrifying thought for a man who had seen the devastation the Kyuubi had caused firsthand.

Shaking his head once more to clear away the dark thoughts the old man sighed and prepared to ask his most important question. The only one he was actually afraid to ask for fear of Naruto's answer. "This is my last question. Naruto, will you ever come back to Konoha? I mean, to stay?"

Naruto looked down into his lap without answering. After a moment he spoke softly without looking up. "Ojii-san, you know what those people did to me. You know the hell my life has been since the day I was born. Honestly there is a part of me that wants to storm out of this room and hunt down anyone and everyone who had a hand in my pains."

The old man's eyes filled with a strange mixture of pity, sadness, and hate. Pity for the boy who sat in front of him, pity for the pain he had suffered. Sadness because all of that pain had bee preventable if people actually thought before acting. Anger for the foolish villagers who had caused it all.

"Even so, I will come back."

The Hokage looked up with wide, unbelieving eyes.

"I once made you a promise old man." Naruto explained. "I promised that I would become a ninja and prove that everyone was wrong about me, no matter what happened. I intend to stand by that promise, it's the whole reason I let myself be changed. i want you to understand something though. I will never be a shinobi of Konoha. I refuse to be a shinobi loyal to a place that essentially caused my death. I will be a shinobi of the Hokage, loyal to you and you alone."

The Hokage nodded and smiled. "I believe I can arrange for something like that. If I could make a suggestion though I would suggest that you return on march twenty ninth, four years from now."

Naruto looked at the old man with a confused expression. "Why that particular date Ojii-san?"

"On March thirty first four years from now the ninja academy class that you were in will be graduating. That would give you two days to settle in before taking the test."

"Why do I even need to take the stupid test?"

"Unfortunately there are certain rules that even I can't break or go around. On of them states that anyone who wishes to become a shinobi within Konoha must pass the genin exam of the Konoha academy."

Naruto sighed in annoyance but nodded his understanding. "Alright then, my family and I will arrive in Konoha on March twenty ninth four years from now." He then stood up from the chair and spoke to the room. "Father I am ready to come home, please open the portal."

With a hiss of displaced air the rectangle of swirling energy appeared in front of the door. Naruto bowed and walked toward it but stopped just in front of it.

"Ojii-san, could you do me one last favor?"

"Of course."

"Tell Hinata that I truly love her, I always will, and I will see her again soon. Until then she has to stay strong and keep going, no matter what anyone tells her. Will you tell her that for me, please?" Naruto asked softly.

"I will give her your message personally, I promise."

"Thank you Ojii-san, for everything." Naruto said with a nod before stepping into the portal which snapped shut behind him.

The old man reached into his desk and pulled out his pipe. After stuffing and lighting it he leaned back in his chair and puffed on it a few times.

'_Four years.' _ he thought as he pulled deeply from his pipe. _'Four years until all the idiots in this village will be forced to see the mistake they made all those years ago.'_

A predatory smile appeared on his face as he leaned forward in the chair and let the smoke stream out his nose. _'I guess I can wait that long!'_

* * *

**Dear Lord my fingers are hurting! Seriously though about half of this chapter was done in one marathon typing session.**

**Now a little info about demonic magic. It is fueled by a demon's youkai energy which is similar to chakra but more closely related to spiritual energy as it is promary a product of a beings willpower. It is controlled entirely by your mind but the energy for the spell must be shaped properly before use. How the shaping is done is up to the wielder, Naruto does it with hand signs, his father uses phrases and gestures. It's just a mental thing. Magic is no more or less powerful than ninjutsu but tends to be more flexible as it is not based on the five elements.**

**Also I have decided that from now on I will be totally ignoring the Hellsing style of creating new vampires and will instead be using the VTM system. This is because there are several people i want to turn who I am pretty sure are not virgins. Plus since I kinda already ignored one half with Naruto I figured it would be easier to just ignore it entirely.**

**Also since certain people have been threatening me with certain over-sized fire arms due to when I said I would post I'm not going to make any promises this time.**

**Lastly if you review with a comment or question I will try and reply so please review. **


	5. Chapter 5

**I'M BAACK!**

**Sorry for the delay everyone, I just had these stupid final tests so I kinda had to drop everything and study. I do hope I didn't piss anyone off to badly. If I did I will willingly submit to having Naruto cut off my head.**

**N: Really?**

**H.U.: No, then I couldn't write anything new.**

**Now I also want to say that this and the next chapter may be a little short as they were once one massive chapter. I decided that it would take far to long to type so i broke it up.**

**Now, It's time for Review Replies!**

**MidnightHunter563: There won't be any single chapter that is just Naruto's training. I'm going to try and have periodic flashbacks throughout the rest of the chapters.**

**Krazyfanfiction1: Cool idea but no. Like I said it's a mental thing, the hand signs are just how Naruto focuses himself.**

**RandomWriter21: Of course!**

**Requiem D: Much later. Most likely after the chunin exams.**

**DeathFrown: It's not that he is conceited, it's just that he has to maintain a certain image. Otherwise some of those under him might try something.**

**BioHazard82: Did you forget that Naruto is magical?**

**norris321: Of course I will! Check out my profile, it's one of my rules!**

**mbahgila21: Most likely.**

**Wolfone10: First off he can only use his full powers after the sun goes down. Second, his Alucard could only teach him so much because naruto fights so differently. Thirdly, remember Naruto is trying to prove himself so by forcing himself to go through all the shit all the other kids do he is trying to prove that he is like everyone else. Lastly I kinda need the wave mission and the chunin exams for some... character changes, I mean development. Oh, and the rules of the vampiric world are just meant to keep others in line, nit the king.**

**T51b Moridin: Um, could you try that again? In english perhaps?**

**Oh... and before I forget. A great big shout out to Lunarwolf150,as he kept bugging me to post almost every friggin day! You are almost as bad as my mom!**

**Now enough conversations, it's story time! Please enjoy the product of my Tea and Mango induced hallucinations!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Hellsing. If I did... heh, heh, heh.**

* * *

Chapter Five: Return of the Prince

Four years later: The Night of March 26th

Nine miles to the north of Konoha was a small, unremarkable hill. Few people knew of its existence, those who did were mainly mapmakers and few if any honestly cared. It wasn't particularly tall, or wide, or steep, it wasn't even rocky. It was just you perfectly average everyday grassy little knoll. Of course, this total unremarkable air was soon to change.

The animals that lived in the forest near the hill felt it first, a tiny disturbance in the air even smaller than a breath. But it felt wrong, it was not the wind of the world, this was something else, something more sinister in nature. The disturbance slowly began to grow as it did it began to disturb the very energy of the earth as if something were suddenly disturbing the energy's flow. Then with all the suddenness of sunrise a mass of shadow leapt from the ground like a blade to the heavens. After a moment the shadowy eruption began to collapse upon itself. From the shadow appeared a massive structure. Tall walls without windows, capped with many towers, made up the bulk of the building which appeared to be made from a shiny black stone. Hundreds of tiny slits pierced the wall through which defenders could fight any attacker foolish enough to try. This was a fortress unlike any seen in the world for thousands of years. The animals who had first sensed its appearance ran with all their strength and speed, their instincts screaming at them that the structure meant death for those who saw it. They were right, for this was the mortal home of Vladimir Tepes, this was the fortress once known as Poenari.

High upon the walls five figures appeared as suddenly as ghosts in the moonlight. Two wore great coats that billowed and snapped in the light evening breeze. Another stood smoking off to the side, the tip of their cigarette glowing like a star in the inky darkness. The other two wore slightly baggy clothes which trailed from their bodies like the tail of a comet.

"So that's your village?" commented the smoking one gesturing towards the distant lights of Konoha.

"Yeah, that's Konoha alright." replied another with a deep sigh.

"Calm down, or they will sense your energy if you don't keep it under control." said a gentle feminine voice.

"They'll know we are here soon enough anyway, let the boy be angry. Soon enough we will reveal ourselves, and then the real fun will begin!" snapped the third in a deep voice with a hint of madness.

"True, but if at all possible this one would prefer not to kill anyone he doesn't have to." sighed the fourth in a sad voice.

"For a bodyguard you're quite the pacifist aren't you?" the smoking one commented.

"And you aren't very observant for a self proclaimed genius." the sad voice replied.

"Gentlemen now is not the time for this bickering, save your energy for later, we may find ourselves in need of it." the feminine voice said peaceably.

"As usual your idea has great merit." the deeper voice commented. "Come, we must rest until the morn. Then we shall go and meet with the Hokage and announce our arrival to this pathetic place."

With that the figures turned and made their way back inside the structure.

* * *

The next day:

Hiruzen Sarutobi was sitting at his desk slowly smoking his pipe and periodically releasing a long stream of smoke from his mouth. This was not an unusual scene. Being the Hokage he rarely had much time to himself and what time he did have he normally spent smoking and thinking just as he was doing now. However there was something unusual about the scene today.

From beneath his desk came the rhythmic tapping of his foot, a clear sign of impatience or worry. Many who had seen him thus far had told him that he looked livelier and more energized than he had in years. When they said this the old man would just smile knowingly and thank them for their compliment but said nothing of the source of his renewed vigor. Some thought that it was the effects of some jutsu the 'Professor' had found long ago, others thought it was simply a large cup of coffee he had stashed somewhere, others had stranger ideas but none of them were anywhere close to the truth.

In all honesty only one person in the entire village even remotely knew where the energy was coming from, Hinata Hyuuga. She knew the energy burst was from excitement and suspense. For today was the day that Naruto had promised he would return on.

In fact, this secret knowledge so energized the old shinobi that by eight a.m., three hours after arriving, all of his daily paperwork had been completed. Now, an hour later he was becoming increasingly restless from a combination of boredom, apprehension and suspense. He exhaled a particularly long smoke stream and spun his chair around so that he could look out over Konoha. Seeing the tranquil scene of the villagers going about their daily lives allowed the old man to relax a bit.

Just as quickly as the view had relaxed him, a shiver down his spine caused him to tense up. Guessing at the cause of the involuntary shiver the old man spun his chair around to face back into his office. just as he had expected three people now stood before his desk, none of them human. As he had hoped Naruto and his adoptive parents now stood before him.

Alucard looked quite different that the last time the two had met. The ancient vampire appeared to be wearing armor of some kind and he had also grown a large mustache. The young lady standing next to Alucard, who he assumed to be Naruto's new mother, wore a long black cheongsam dress with silver flames and a large red dragon coiled about it. Had this been a less serious moment the old warrior most likely would have had a nosebleed but he kept it in check for now. Naruto's outfit had changed little since his visit. He had simply replaced the formal jacket with a simpler black zip up and had also donned black boots with large silver buckles.

The Hokage quickly stood up and bowed to his guests. It was his way of expressing thanks for what they had done for Naruto. "Thank you for doing this Alucard-san. I truly thank you for allowing Naruto to return."

"Vladimir." the ancient vampire replied.

"Pardon?"

"My name is Vladimir, not Alucard. Alucard is something like an annoying nickname I have grown fond of over the years." the vampire replied.

"I apologize for my mistake then Vladimir-san." the Hokage said with another small bow.

"You didn't know, no need to apologize. I would like to introduce you to my wife and queen, Seras Victoria. Also it is I who should be thanking you for allowing us to join your village." Vladimir responded.

"No need to thank me. It is a well known fact that there aren't many things I would not do when it comes to helping Naruto." the Hokage said with a laugh. "Of course we both know that all of this is really just to help Naruto."

Seras smiled sweetly. "True, but I still think that we ought to thank you. If not for than at least for all that you did before. You are one of the few who truly cared fir him while he lived here for this I thank you. I makes me happy to know that at least one person truly cares for him."

"Miss Victoria, I assure you that there are far more people in the village that care for Naruto than you may believe. The problem is that many of those people are too afraid of Naruto's tormentors to do anything to help." the Hokage said with an unhappy sigh.

"Be that as it may you have done much for our son, and for that you have our gratitude." Vladimir replied with a small bow.

"Yes well, enough of such unhappy topics. We have other things we need to discuss unless I am mistaken." the old man said with a rueful smile. "Originally I was going to suggest that Lord Vladimir change his appearance as few people have forgotten what happened during your last visit; however I do not believe that suggestion to still be necessary."

Vladimir chuckled darkly.

"I must add though that your current appearance certainly looks the part of a clan head." the face of the old man suddenly became more serious. "As enjoyable as this conversation is we have a few things we must go over if you are to become an official shinobi clan of Konoha."

Reaching beneath his desk the old man pulled out a large sheaf of papers and laid them on the desk. "I have taken the liberty of filling out a number of the forms here including your clan's creation date, point of origin, and more recent history. As such if anyone asks you are from Kiri and are fleeing the civil war there. The only thing that remains is a list of members, the name of the clan, its symbol, and the name of the clan head."

Vladimir nodded and picked up the papers and quickly began filling them out. On the section entitled members he placed a small blood seal so that if he, Naruto, or Seras turned anyone while they were here the name of the person would instantly appear on the paperwork. Once he was done he looked over t quickly before handing it back to the Hokage.

The Hokage scanned over the completed forms.

Clan Name: Tepes

Clan Head: Vladimir Tepes

Members: Vladimir Tepes, Seras V. Tepes, Naruto U. Tepes, Kenshin Himura, Walter C. Dornez VIII

At the bottom was the symbol of Konoha's newest clan. It was a stylized red 'W' on a black background. The old man didn't know it but this had been the symbol of the principality of Wallachia, and he was the first human to see it in several thousand years.

Seeing all the blanks sufficiently filled and that all the info was in order the Hokage stamped it with his seal of approval. He then offered his hand out in front of him which Vladimir quickly took into his cold iron grasp. "As the Sandaime Hokage of Konohagakure I wish to be the first to extend my warmest welcome to the Tepes clan."

Vladimir nodded politely and then bowed. "We are honored to serve my Lord Hokage, what do you command?"

"For the moment you may all do as you wish." the Hokage replied in a kind tone. "On the day of the Genin test though Naruto must be at the academy no later than nine o'clock. Once he has completed the test I would like to see you and the other members of your clan here at around noon. A that time there will be a council meeting and I am unfortunately required to have all new clans appear before the council before they can officially join the village."

"Ah the joys of the bureaucracy, the one thing all leaders fear." Vladimir intoned sarcastically.

"Indeed, however without them no leader would ever be able to lead from underneath all the paperwork." Sarutobi replied with a small chuckle.

"As annoyingly true as that is we shall return at the designated time Lord Hokage." With that said the ancient vampire and his family bowed. As they rose back up they seemed to sink and disappear into their own shadows. Before they completely vanished the old man was pretty sure that Naruto waved to him.

Sarutobi chuckled. "Undetectable, fast, fearless, and indescribably powerful." He mused out loud. "It would appear that vampires make perfect shinobi, who'd have guessed it?"

* * *

March 31st: 8:45am

Naruto sat quietly in the rearmost seat in the back corner of the classroom farthest from the door. He was waiting for the other students of the class to begin to arrive. At the front of the room Iruka bustled about trying to get everything ready for the tests.

When Naruto had first come into the classroom, entering quietly through the shadow made by the teacher's desk, he had found Iruka waiting for him with a soft and kind smile. The Hokage had already informed the teacher of Naruto's, uniqueness, so all the chunin did was say four words.

"Welcome home little brother."

With that said the chunin turned and returned to his work leaving Naruto to his own devices. Naruto still had a smile on his face from his sensei's kind words. Unfortunately he didn't think that a smile would be the appropriate way for his classmates to see him after his four year absence. Thus he settled his expression into one of bored indifference while pulling up his hood and leaning back in the chair. Not a moment later the first of his fellow classmates filed into the room. Ten minutes later the classroom was full of noisy students keyed up by the upcoming test. In the few minutes remaining before the class began Naruto looked around and mentally catalogued the students who were most likely to become genin with him.

Near the front of the room sat Shino Aburame, heir to the Aburame clan. He wasn't much of a fighter per se, but his swarm of Kikaichu beetles could drain an enemy of chakra in moments. More worrisome was the sensory abilities that the beetles provided their host. It was quite possible that the beetles may detect his distinct lack of chakra which could lead to some very troublesome questions.

Just behind Shino sat his polar opposite, Kiba Inuzuka. Kiba was a brawn over brains fighter. But, between his clan techniques and his partner Akamaru he could do a lot of damage. Even to an ageless prince of shadows.

Across the aisle from them sat an odd duo, Choji Akimichi and Shikamaru Nara. While they might not look it these two were about the nastiest pair to fight Naruto could think of. Choji was the brawn of the pair. With his clans body expansion techniques he was a walking talking meat tank. Shikamaru was the brains of the pair. His techniques were more of the support variety but he was a genius when it came to strategy.

Then at the front of the classroom sat two of the most obnoxious women Naruto had ever had the displeasure of meeting, Sakura Haruno and Ino Yamanaka. Ino was not really a threat but her clan's special genjutsus and other mental techniques had the possibility of being real pains. On the other hand Sakura wasn't a threat in any way shape or form. Although her test scores were on par with Shikamaru's and her chakra control was as fine as a Hyuuga, she had no useful abilities. In fact the only reason she seemed to be a kunoichi at all was to attract the attention of a certain boy.

Of course that particular boy happened to be sitting directly in front of Naruto; the last of the mighty Uchiha clan, Sasuke Uchiha. To Naruto the raven haired boy was absolutely pathetic. He was a arrogant, spoiled, ungrateful little brat who sought power only for the sake of revenge. Sadly the civilian council seemed to give him all he wanted no matter what it was. To make matters worse the prick seemed to be under the impression that the mere fact that he was an Uchiha somehow made him more important than anyone else. Considering who his adoptive father was Naruto found the Uchiha's attitude both amusing and highly annoying.

Though if he was to be honest with himself though he really didn't give a damn about any of the other people in the class. The only person he truly and honestly cared about in the least was sitting in the chair right next to him.

Turning his head ever so slightly so as to not disturb his hood, Naruto peeked out at Hinata. In his absence she had grown from an adorable little girl into a gorgeous young woman. Gone were the nervous stuttering, the shyness and the quietness. In their place she had developed a will of iron and just as importantly the skills to back up her beliefs. Since his clandestine arrival Naruto had taken every opportunity he could to secretly meet with Hinata so they could talk and fill each other in on what had been happening over the last four years. Sadly, he couldn't bring himself to reveal what he had become for fear of rejection, and because he wasn't allowed to without his fathers direct permission.

As Naruto continued to peer at Hinata Iruka glanced up at the clock and then out at the classroom. Seeing that it was full the chunin nodded to himself, stood up and then closed the door indicating that class had now begun.

"Alright everyone this is it!" he said as he picked up a stack of papers from his desk. "The day you've all been waiting for, the genin exams. Just in case any of you forgot the test is made of four parts, a written exam, a Taijutsu demonstration, a weapons demonstration, and a ninjutsu demonstration. Anyone who passes all four exams shall receive their Hitai-Ate and will be assigned to a three-man cell and a jonin sensei. Of course any special clan weapons, jutsus and styles will be allowed so long as they are within the rules of the test. We'll be starting with the written exam." Iruka silently walked around the room and passed out the papers.

When he reached his desk again there was a sudden flurry of pencil movement from the students. Most of them anyway, Shikamaru was sleeping and Kiba was having a small scale panic attack. The chunin smiled seeing his students act just as he figured they would. When he looked up at Naruto though he was pleasantly surprised to see the boy hunched over his test just like the others. He had somewhat expected Naruto to react to the test similarly to Kiba, but then again Naruto always had been a little difficult to predict.

Thirty minutes later a groaning Kiba laid his pencil on his desk and placed his head beside it. Iruka glanced up from the small orange book he was reading, surreptuously wiped the blood from under his nose, and rose to collect the completed tests. As the scarred chunin collected and began to grade the tests another teacher by the name of Mizuki came and collected the students and took them outside for the taijutsu demonstration part of the exam.

Once the class arrived at the sparring ring Mizuki pulled out a small clipboard. "All right then you all know the rules, but in case you're an idiot and forgot I'll go over them again. I will call two names, when I do those named will enter the ring and spar. I will be watching and grading your technique as you fight. Remember, clan styles are allowed but this is a spar, not a fight to the death so no weapons or chakra. Everyone understand? Good! Now the first two to spar will be Shikamaru and Ami. Take your places!"

At this point Naruto stopped paying attention. He figured that those he saw as being strong would win hands down, so he no interest in watching. Instead he just mulled over a new technique that he and Kenshin had been working on for the last few weeks. He thought he had it almost perfect but Kenshin said otherwise so he mentally examined it looking for any weak points that he could eliminate.

His thoughts were interrupted before he could get to deep by Mizuki say Hinata Hyuuga and Choji Akimichi. Naruto smiled at Hinata as she made her way into the ring and faced off against the larger Akimichi. The young vampire didn't show it but he was concerned. He was afraid the Choji might hurt his love. Now he didn't think that Hinata was weak, far from it in fact. It was just that her jyuuken technique was nowhere near as powerful without chakra to back it up. Without chakra Choji's massive size and physical strength gave him a huge advantage.

Mizuki looked at the two students in the ring. "Ready yourselves." Hinata lowered herself down into the stance of the gentle fist. Choji put his right foot back and raised his fists, almost like a boxing stance. "Hajime!"

Before Choji could so much as twitch, Hinata launched herself across the ring and attacked. She rushed forward and slammed her right palm into the Akimichi's sternum. As the boy staggered back to try and put some distance between him and his opponent she dropped into a low crouch and swept his legs out from under him. Continuing her spin her the knee of her other leg slammed into his back driving him towards the sky. He never got far though as a fist drove into his stomach driving him into the dirt. With her opponent down for the count Hinata stood up and brushed herself off before turning and leveling an expectant look towards Mizuki.

Said chunin just stood there for a moment looking quite like a fish due to the way his mouth was hanging open. "Winner…Hinata?" he finally stammered.

Hinata bowed slightly to the instructor before walking back to Naruto's side as Shikamaru stepped out into the ring to collect his defeated friend. Everyone in the class, including Naruto to a small extent, had looks of astonishment. None of them could believe the fight, no, the crushing defeat they had just witnessed. No one had ever seen Hinata move like that, what she had done wasn't even the jyuuken! She was supposed to be shy and unassertive, and yet they had just seen her charge straight at her opponent and utterly crush him! Just where did this sudden strength come from?

Naruto just laughed mentally. _'Hah, check out the looks on their faces! She's been holding back on them this whole time! Serves 'em right!'_

'_**Indeed. You've managed to find yourself one hell of a vixen kit.'**_ Kurama commented with a snort of laughter. _**'So far she is the only one I have seen who seems to understand what it takes to be a true shinobi. Honestly what kind of an idiot would waste their strength on someone obviously weaker that them just to show off?'**_

On the other side of the ring Sasuke sneezed loudly.

'_Does that answer your question?' _ Naruto laughed.

Kurama was dumbfounded and foundered for a response for a moment. _**'I don't believe it…that actually worked? I thought that only happened in comics!'**_

Naruto did all he could to try and hold in his amusement but despite his best efforts a small but audible chuckle emerged from deep in his throat.

Hinata gave him a questioning look.

Naruto whispered an explanation. "I was just laughing over a joke I just thought up."

"I assume you're going to tell it to me later, correct?" Hinata asked with an obvious smirk.

"Whatever you command my Shiroi-hime (White Princess)." Naruto replied with another laugh and a small bow.

For the next few minutes the two lovers stood in silence, simply enjoying each others company while watching the last few matches. Most of them were between the students Naruto considered to be unimportant. That said one of them was between Shino and Sasuke after which Naruto's respect for the Aburame shot up, as did his dislike of the Uchiha.

The match really never should have happened. Especially when one considers the fact that Shino's handicap was as large, if not larger, than the one that Hinata had fought with. Without his insects the Aburame was at a severe disadvantage but fought on regardless. Once the battle began it was quite obvious who the winner would be, Shino simply lacked the speed and physical strength necessary for taijutsu, and Sasuke took every opportunity he found. Rather than ending the match quickly and cleanly Sasuke seemed to take pleasure in toying with his outmatched opponent. After almost five minutes of essentially being the Uchiha's personal punching bag Shino finally withdrew. However his drive and wish to continue battle even when horribly outmatched quite impressed the young vampire on the sidelines.

Then it was the final match of the exam.

"Alright the final sparring match will be between Kiba Inuzuka and..." Mizuki felt bile threaten to rise in his throat as he saw the second name on his clipboard. "…and Naruto U. Tepes."

Many of the students looked at each other with obvious surprise and a fair amount of confusion. They only knew of one person in the world named Naruto, and they really didn't expect there were multiple people with said name. Yet that Naruto had disappeared over four years previously, to the delight of many of their parents. Some of them looked around in hopes of spotting the boy's rather unique spiky blonde head. Sadly, few, if any, were doing so out of friendship, most were looking for their favorite old scapegoat and/or punching bag.

Kiba, meanwhile, had made his way into the sparring ring and was waiting for his opponent to show himself. While doing so he decided that now would be a good time to demonstrate his superiority. "Ha, I guess that loser must've just run off again! He must've ran off in fear when he heard I was going to be fighting him! He was to afraid to show himself and get his ass handed to him!" the wild looking boy shouted.

"You know, I'm pretty sure that handing someone their ass while it is still attached is a physical impossibility. However, I have been wrong in the past, so you are free to try and prove me wrong." commented a young man in a long black hooded coat as he calmly entered the ring.

"Who the hell are you supposed to be?" Kiba demanded.

"I, the hell, am Naruto U. Tepes, and I believe I am your opponent." Naruto replied with a small bow.

"Yeah right!" Kiba snorted with obvious disdain. "There's no way you're Naruto. The Naruto I know is a short blonde idiot who wears orange way too much! There is no way you are Naruto!"

The young prince of darkness just faced his opponent quietly for a moment before responding. "Would I be correct in assuming that the Naruto you are referring to is Naruto Uzumaki?"

Kiba sneered. "Of course, there can't be that many people with that stupid of a name."

"Then you are correct in saying that I am not the Naruto you know. I am Naruto Tepes, son of Vladimir and Seras Tepes. But I was once the Naruto you speak of." Naruto replied throwing back his hood and letting his silver ponytail hang down.

Kiba narrowed his eyes. "Whatever, Uzumaki probably just sent you to fight in his place since he was to afraid to." The wild boy crouched down into his family's taijutsu stance. "It really doesn't matter to me who you are though. I'll kick your ass so hard your grandchildren are going to feel it!"

Again Naruto laughed a little. "I do believe that is another physical impossibility. You are welcome to try and prove me wrong though." Naruto said casually as he slipped into his own hand to hand stance.

Seeing Naruto's battle stance Kiba became confused and a tad bit concerned. Naruto was in a stance unlike anything he had ever heard of or even read about, he wasn't sure what exactly it was or how it worked but for some reason his gut felt uneasy. Unlike most stances in which the upper body stayed mostly upright Naruto's torso lay parallel to the ground. His legs were apart though most of the weight was on his rear one. His arms were slung out to his sides and almost touched the ground while his head remained facing Kiba allowing light to glint off his sapphire eyes. Most odd of all though were his fists. His fingers were folded as if readying themselves for a collapsing point fist, but rather than being held tightly together they were spread apart. It was almost like he was trying to turn his fingers into talons.

While Kiba tried to figure out Naruto's stance the silver haired prince was smiling within the shadows of his hood. He could see the confusion on his opponents face and it brought back, interesting, memories.

(Flashback)

Vladimir and Naruto stood alone on a wind swept plain. In the far, far distance one could faintly make out the twin spires of Blood-Borne Keep.

"I will now begin your training. For the next two months I will push you to the very edge of existence. Every minute of every hour of every day will be spent perfecting your abilities." Vladimir stated in a chilling tone.

Naruto cheered with excitement. "All right let's get to work!" He reached behind himself and drew Crimson moon from it's clip on his back.

"What are you going to do with that?" the older vampire asked pointedly.

"Um..., train with it?" Naruto responded.

"How will you do that if you don't know how to fight without it?"

"Um..."

"You are a vampire, boy. That weapon is only for when your powers aren't available. You must first learn to fight with fist and fang before you fight with strength and steel."

"Why should I learn how to fight with my fists if I have my weapon? Seems kinda pointless to me." Naruto commented.

His fathers eyes narrowed. " If that is what you think, attack me!" he roared.

Vladimir crouched low. His body and arms parallel to the ground. His head up and watching. His hands curled and ready.

Unable to go against the direct command of his sire Naruto attacked. He charged as fast as he could and swung his weapon with all his might to cut naught but air.

"Far to slow." his father whispered before Naruto's world disappeared in a haze of pain.

(End Flashback)

For two weeks his father had pounded the basics of his stance into Naruto's head, usually literally. After sixteen days Naruto could actually fight his father on something like even ground, so long as Vladimir didn't actually try. This would be his first chance to actually test what he learned.

After another moment or two Mizuki finally started the match.

"Hajime!"

Kiba charged his opponent with a roar. He still didn't exactly understand what his opponents stance was all about but he honestly didn't care. He figured that if he charged at full speed and full power he could bowl his enemy right over. He also assumed that this other kid would be so terrified that he wouldn't be able to strike back.

Once he was close enough Kiba pounced like some wild animal towards his foe. His plan was pretty simple, tackle opponent, force him to submit. Unfortunately when he landed Naruto was somehow standing behind him.

Instinctively the wild boy spun on his heel trying to catch his opponent with a stinging backhand. Once more though Naruto had vanished only to reappear behind the Inuzuka.

"Hold still you wimp!" Kiba yelled.

"And just let you hit me? I'm not that stupid." Naruto calmly countered

Naruto's cool and collected reply pissed the Inuzuka off even further. This time when he spun around to strike he didn't stop his spin. Instead he increased the speed of his rotations and turned himself into a veritable tornado of pain.

Naruto simply raised an eyebrow as the tornado approached. When it was barely a foot away the young prince brought his fingers together and struck just one blow that landed on the tornado with a resounding 'Crack!'.

The tornado that was Kiba began to slow down before halting altogether. When the dust he had generated settled the young wild boy stood up with a furious scowl and a wrist held tightly to his chest. Judging by the angle at which the aforementioned wrist was lying it was obviously broken.

Mizuki hissed in anger. If Kiba's wrist really was broken the Inuzuka boy would automatically lose the match. Which of course would mean that Naruto, his opponent would automatically win. Unfortunately, Mizuki really didn't have any other choice. "Winner... Naruto Tepes." the chunin spat.

Naruto could all but see the hate rolling of Mizuki. The anger the man directed towards him was almost palpable, but the young prince ignored it and slowly strode back to where Hinata was standing. With the last match over most of the students slowly began to make their way towards the target range. None saw what happened next.

Standing alone in the center of the ring Kiba saw his enemy walking away with an imagined smug attitude. Then he saw the coy smile that Hinata, his woman, was giving Naruto. In that instant he snapped. He drew a true battle kunai from his pouch and threw it at Naruto's back with all his might. Kiba might have lost this fight but he sure as hell was going to let the one who beat him live!

Mizuki saw the kunai fly through the air and simply smiled before closing his eyes. The chunin figured that if he didn't see the kunai strike he couldn't be held accountable. He waited for the unmistakable thud of a body hitting the ground, but it never came. Instead he heard the ring of metal striking metal. His eyes snapped open and then quickly narrowed in anger at the scene before him.

Naruto stood a few feet beyond the edge of the ring facing Kiba with his arms crossed and an annoyed scowl on his face. Hinata stood only a foot or two behind him with a horrified expression. A few feet away Kiba's kunai lay on the ground in two pieces. A clean cut where the handle met the blade had split the knife like a twig. Hovering above the severed kunai was the blade that did so, held by it's wielder. A young man wearing a strange outfit made of a light purple top and white pants. The swordsman's burning amber eyes were fixed on a terrified Kiba.

"Oh, hey there Kenshin. I didn't know you were around." Naruto commented in an eerily calm tone.

"Excuse me." Mizuki squeaked.

"This one doubts that very much Naruto-dono. You went through the village as slowly as you did so this one could more easily track you." As he spoke Kenshin's amber eyes never left Kiba's shivering form.

"That's not true! I haven't been here in four years I don't know what might have changed and what didn't, I just didn't want to get lost!" Naruto retorted in his own defence.

"Excuse me." Mizuki said again.

"This one asks that you pardon his disbelief Naruto-dono." The swordsman replied with a small sigh.

"Hey this place is at least as big as Shadowfang, and you remember how many times I got lost there!" Naruto said with a small scowl.

"True, but here you can ask around for directions without worrying about getting your head ripped off. Or incinerated, or blown up, shot, cut into small pieces…"

"Ok, ok ,ok, I get it! Geez dude, it's not like I can't hold my own in a fight!" Naruto huffed with an annoyed scowl.

"Excuse me!" Mizuki tried again only louder.

"This one did not mean to downplay your abilities in combat." Kenshin finally looked at Naruto as he spoke. Slowly his eyes changed from amber to amethyst as his anger cooled. "The sparring sessions we have are more than adequate to demonstrate your skills."

"Sparring sessions my ass!" Naruto roared. "Between you Dad and Chris I'm pretty sure that it is safer outside the Hall than inside! At least outside no one is always trying to blow a hole in my chest or cut my head off!"

"This one would never decapitate you Naruto-dono!" Kenshin cried out before quietly adding, "At least not completely."

Mizuki couldn't take it anymore. "EXCUSE ME!" he roared.

"Huh?" Naruto said intelligently.

"Oro?" blurted Kenshin.

"Who the hell are you and what in Kami's name are you doing here?!" Mizuki yelled angrily.

"This one is the personal bodyguard of Naruto Tepes, Kenshin Himura. It is my duty to protect the young lord against any and all threats. Speaking of which…" Kenshin's eye bled back to amber as he fixed his death glare back on Kiba. "How shall this villain be punished for his actions against you Naruto-dono? Be aware that I would gladly kill him for attempting to do the same to you."

Naruto chuckled darkly. "I don't believe an execution will be necessary, this time."

"As you command." Kenshin's eyes remained fixed on Kiba as he resheathed his sword. "You should be thankful that Naruto-dono is a forgiving soul. Should you attempt to harm him again though you will die before you can count to two." With that the swordsman bowed to Naruto, turned and began to walk away.

Mizuki realized he had a great chance to get the demon brat in trouble. "Halt! You are under arrest for threatening a shinobi of Konoha!" Mizuki yelled as a kunai appeared in each of his hands. Internally he was smiling with joy. If he could somehow make it sound like Naruto had purposely provoked Kiba he could land the brat in jail or worse.

Kenshin calmly turned around and faced the enraged chunin with a somewhat bored expression. "Why is this one under arrest? The boy that was threatened is not yet a shinobi of Konoha. For that matter he attempted to kill a student who I am charged to protect. If anything you should be arresting the one who attempted murder."

"SHUT UP!" Mizuki roared as he threw his kunai.

Kenshin sighed a bit before gently flexing both wrists. From the inside of his sleeves appeared two short swords.

"Kodachi Nito Ryu: Goko Jujin!" Kenshin cried as he batted both kunai away in a single strike with both blades. The red haired swordsman then pointed the tips of both blades directly at Mizuki. He then thrust the point of the rear one into the handle of the first shooting it across the training yard like an arrow. It passed so close to Mizuki's neck that a slash line appeared in his bandana. The launched sword slammed and then stuck into the far wall and stayed there, it's blade ringing from the impact. "Kodachi Nito Ryu: Onmyo Hasshi."

Kenshin met Mizuki's terrified gaze. "Do not try my patience. Do so again and the blade will not fly by so easily. My duty is to Naruto-don and his family, never get between me and them, or you will die. And so far as you know, none of this ever happened, understand?" Mizuki and Kiba quickly nodded. With that the swordsman and his weapon abruptly vanished.

No one moved for a moment until Iruka emerged from the nearby door.

"Hey what's with all the ruckus? I couldn't get any grading done, not that I'm complaining about that of course, but still." the scarred chunin said calmly.

Hearing his fellow teacher's voice Mizuki snapped back to reality. "Oh, nothing much, the last match just got very heated, that's all. I apologize for disturbing you while you were working my friend."

Iruka raised an eyebrow in disbelief but decided he wasn't going to pry. "That's quite all right, I had just finished anyway so it's no big deal. So, shall we go hit stuff with pointing objects?"

This time it was Mizuki who raised his eyebrow. "I do hope you mean that we are going to the practice range."

"Well what else would I mean, now come along." Iruka said cheerily.

After a few moments of walking the small group joined the rest of the class at the practice range. The range itself wasn't much to look at, but it served it's purpose. A large metal bar half-buried in the ground marked where the students were supposed to stand while practicing. Ten yards in front of the line stood one circular and one silhouette shaped targets made of wood.

When the teachers arrived Mizuki once more began to read off names off of his clip-board. When he did the named student would step up to the line and throw three kunai and five shuriken at each target. They were then scored based on where the weapons struck the targets.

As Naruto expected those he had chosen to pay attention to did quite well. In fact he had to restraining himself from shouting and cheering when all but one of Hinata's weapons struck the bullseyes, and she didn't even use her Byakugan. Of course then Sasuke was called up. As usual the last Uchiha just had to show off just how 'superior he was to everyone else. This time all of his weapons hit dead on but then he burnt the silhouette to ash by using the dragon fire jutsu on a ninja wire tied to the handle of his last kunai. Unfortunately this caused almost all of the girls in the class to almost faint because of how 'amazing' Sasuke was. Naruto just scoffed and waited for the target to be replaced so that he could have his turn.

When the new target was set up Naruto stared at it for a moment before turning to Iruka. "Hey, Iruka sensei, um, I haven't used kunai or shuriken in a while. Can I use my personal weapon instead?"

Iruka scratched the back of his head. "Uh, well I don't see why not. I mean technically you're just supposed to demonstrate that you can use your weapons effectively. It doesn't say it has to be kunai and shuriken, so, sure go right ahead."

"In that case can I go over there? My weapon is really long range." Naruto asked.

"Over where?"

"Just in front of the doors." Naruto pointed to the spot.

Iruka glanced over to where Naruto had indicated and then back at the targets. He made a few mental calculations to estimate the distance before turning back to Naruto. "You do realize that is something like a hundred twenty yards right? Are you sure you can hit the targets from that range?"

Naruto looked at the chunin like as if questioning the man's sanity. "Iruka-sensei I've never missed a target that was less than four hundred yards away. I could make this shot with my eyes closed if I really wanted to."

"If you say so."

"Heh, don't worry this is child's play for me." Naruto began to walk away, but then stopped and turned back to Iruka. "Oh, you should probably move everyone away from the targets. My weapon has a odd tendency to go through people like tissue paper." As he said the last part an almost psychotic grin appeared on his face.

Having said all that he needed to Naruto walked over to his chosen firing location. As he did Sasuke forced his way to the edge of the clump of students in order to more effectively sneer at Naruto's back.

_'What a dobe!' _thought the raven haired heartthrob. _'He saw how powerful I am so he is trying to one up me! He's smart enough to realize that he can't compete with my Dragon fire jutsu so he's going for range! That idiot will never hit anything from that range!'_

Once he had reached his chosen location Naruto whirled around, unhooked Crimson Moon from his belt and let his weapon unfold. Rather than it assuming its normal gun-scythe form it became a high powered sniper rifle. The blade folded beneath the barrel to form a hand grip while the counter-weight traveled down the haft to become a buttstock. With a smooth and practiced motion he leaned into his shooter stance and pulled back the action lever with an audible 'k-chack'. He lined up his targets through the sights, took a deep breathe, and fired. An instant later the teachers and students heard three loud 'crack's echo throughout the training ground. A second later Naruto visibly relaxed and put away his weapon before beginning to walk back to the rest of the group.

As he watched Naruto walk back to rejoin the rest of the class Iruka was deeply confused. Naruto had just pulled out some sort of thing that no one had ever seen before then it had produced those sounds as well as small amounts of smoke that had leaked from its end. Now the boy had put said strange thing away as was walking back towards them. Yet, as far as the chunin could tell Naruto had yet to hit the targets. Even with all the training Naruto most likely went through in his absence Iruka should have been able to see any kunai that the boy threw. Then a thought crossed his mind. What if that strange object was some sort of high-powered kunai launcher? Following this line of thought the chunin turned his head to glance at the targets and gasped at what he saw.

Hearing Iruka's sudden intake of breathe Mizuki and the class turned to see what had so affected the chunin sensei. What they saw astounded and horrified almost all of them. The targets were all but destroyed. The circular target had a single grapefruit sized hole through the exact center of the bull's-eye. As bad as that looked the silhouette target was the thing that really was taking people's breathe away. Through the silhouette's chest was another grapefruit sized hole centered at where a human's sternum would be. In addition there was no head or neck for that matter because everything above the shoulders looked to be blown completely away. If the target had been an actual living breathing person they would have been beyond dead. Not even the legendary slug-sannin Tsunade could hope to repair such wounds.

Like the rest Iuka was astounded and horrified but he horror ran much deeper than that of those around him. Naruto's strange weapon had punched through a five inch thick solid wood target like it was tissue paper. That didn't even take into account the fact that the targets were made from the wood of chakra trees meaning they were only just a bit softer than iron. If this was what could happen to what amounted to a sheet of soft iron he didn't even want to think about what would happen to a person if they were hit.

Stifling his concern by force of will Iruka tried to keep his cool as Naruto walked back to join the astounded class. As the boy drew near Iruka cleared his throat loudly.

Iruka announced, "Alright class this concludes the weapons portion of the exam. Mizuki could you take them inside and get started with the ninjutsu tests?"

Mizuki nodded and started off with a whispering class following just behind him. Before they got to far away Iruka quietly put a hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"Might I have a word with you Naruto?" the chunin asked quietly.

Naruto turned to him and nodded. He then turned back to Hinata. "Go on ahead, I'll be there in a minute."

Hinata looked a smidge upset, but she figured that she had waited for Naruto for four years, a few minutes more wouldn't kill her. "O-okay. I'll s-save you a s-seat N-Narut-to-k-kun. P-Please don't t-take to long."

Deciding to tease her a bit Naruto smiled and bowed. "As you command Shiroi-hime (White Princess)."

Hinata blushed a radiant shade of scarlet at his words but she turned and all but ran inside before she could faint.

Iruka whistled softly at the little scene he had just witnessed. "Wooow, I haven't seen Hinata turn that color in years, not to mention the fact that she stuttered. You know there is a rumor floating around that you are the reason behind her sudden changes. Someone said something about you giving her a secret message just before you disappeared."

Naruto kept staring after her while he replied. "No, nothing I did changed her. She's always been strong, she was just afraid to show it. All I did was give her a reason to show her strength and she did the rest." He then turned back to Iruka and raised an eyebrow. "So, besides my private message to Hinata, what else did the old man tell you about me?"

Iruka's face became graver as the conversation turned serious. "Everything. From the real reason you left, to your 'induction' into your new 'clan', I also know that you are aware of what you hold. Because I know all of that I have an important question for you. Did you use any of your 'clans' or 'friends' abilities a minute ago?"

Naruto's expression quickly changed from curious to severely annoyed in the blink of an eye. Just as fast though it relaxed to a weary frown. "Iruka sensei, don't you trust me?!"

"I trust you Naruto, but I need to know."

Naruto frowned but answered. "I didn't use any of my 'abilities' during the tests. I can't use any of my clan abilities while standing in the sun and none of my 'friends' abilities are that precise. He's more of a total overkill kinda guy."

'_**Kit, there is no such thing as overkill. There is simply enough force to take you're your enemy, and then there is enough force to take your enemy down and insure they stay down, preferably in a great many little pieces. I follow the second rule.' **_Kurama huffed.

"Thanks for saying that, I feel a little more in control again. Although I have to ask what the hell did you do?! I know B-rank jutsus that can't do that much damage!" Iruka asked as he was genuinely curious as to what kind of weapon could produce such carnage.

Naruto scratched the back of his head nervously. "I just used my personal weapon. But I can't really explain what happened 'cause I don't really understand how the stupid thing works. All I know is that when I pull the trigger a hole appears in my target."

"That isn't particularly helpful you know." Iruka sighed.

Naruto just smiled and shrugged his shoulders.

The chunin rolled his eyes. "I'll just put down that you proved your capabilities with a clan weapon. Um, speaking of clan stuff, can you actually pass the ninjutsu test? You don't have any chakra and you need to perform a kawarimi, a bushin, a henge, and one other of your choice. How are you planning on doing that?"

"Yeah, well sort of anyway." Naruto replied nervously. "While I can't use the actual jutsu I think I can do something similar using my de-I mean clan techniques."

Iruka frowned in thought. "Yeah I think I can work with that. Your clan is official, right?"

"It will be after the council meeting this afternoon." Naruto replied confidently.

"Thank Kami for that! That will make the paperwork sooo much easier." Iruka exclaimed with a relieved sigh. Then a small smirk appeared on his face. "Now let's get you back to the rest of the class before a certain blue-haired young lady comes out here and kills you for keeping you to myself."

Naruto raise an eyebrow. "I take it she is a little overprotective of me then?"

Iruka responded with a nervous laugh as the two started back to the building. "That would be one way of saying it. Though I also think that would be a severe understatement. One time I watched her take down tow chunin for talking bad about you on your birthday. It was quite a thing to see."

Naruto almost fell over from shock. "Holy shit! She must have been furious!"

"Like you wouldn't believe."

They walked in silence for another minute before reaching the classroom. The two entered just in time to see Shikamaru use his famous Kagemane no jutsu to make Mizuki slam his head onto his desk. The class laughed while Mizuki just groaned, rubbed his forehead and threw a forehead protector to the lazy pineapple head.

A quick glance around the room revealed that just over half the class had already passed the test judging by the number who were wore protectors upon their brows. The Uchiha was up next allowing Naruto to return to his seat at the back of the room without drawing to much attention to himself. This was because Sasuke, with his continuous need to prove himself superior to anyone and everyone, performed the famed Goukyaku no jutsu, completely incinerating the practice dummy set up in the corner for the students to perform their jutsus on. This display of misapplied power was met with a chorus of cheers from the class while Naruto just rolled his eyes. While Mizuki went a retrieved a new one Iruka handed Sasuke his protector which the Uchiha took with a condescending sneer.

Sadly Naruto had arrived to late to see most of his classmates jutsus but he did get to see Hinata pass with a beautifully done Mizu-gan no jutsu. After a few more inconsequential names Naruto was the last to be called up.

Mizuki gave Naruto his test instructions in a bored tone. "Please perform a bushin, henge, kawarimi, and one other jutsu."

Naruto nodded his understanding and then made one single handed sign. "Kagenpou: Doko Kage" (Shadow arts: Disguised Shadow)

Out of Naruto's shadow rose a second figure. Strangely it wasn't a second Naruto that appeared, it was a perfect clone of Mizuki.

Naruto smirked at the expressions on his classmates faces. To them it looked like he had just created a henged clone with a single hand sign. In truth all he had done was manipulate his shadow to look like Mizuki. He also didn't really need the hand sign to manipulate his shadow but he didn't want anyone to know that he had any special skills just yet.

The smirk remained plastered on his face as he made a second hand sign. This time he and his 'clone' disappeared in a cloud of smoke. When the smoke cleared he and his clone had switched places. This time he had simply dropped two smoke bombs and leapt to where his clone had been standing while making his shadow move. He then snapped his fingers making his 'clone' disappear.

Iruka was having a hard time hiding his smile as he watched Naruto pass the test with flying colors. "Nicely done, now please perform a jutsu of your own."

Once more Naruto nodded before running through five hand seals. When he finished he drew his arm back and made a fist before suddenly rotating it one hundred eighty degrees. Just as quickly he jabbed towards the wall. As he did everyone in the room felt a slight tremor in the air, like what you might feel if you stood to close to a subwoofer. Then a loud 'crack' echoed around the room as a section of plaster on the wall suddenly broke off and crumbled to dust.

Naruto the turned back to face the rest of the class and bowed slightly. "Kaze Shinko." (Impact Wind)

The majority of the class was stunned to silence. Four years ago Naruto had been a failure, the class clown who couldn't successfully perform a single jutsu, not even a simple transformation. Now here he was four years later taking out Kiba in a single punch, blowing targets apart, performing two jutsu's with one hand sign and using invisible jutsu strong enough that the whole room could feel it. Many were wondering if this really was the Naruto they remembered or if this was someone else entirely.

Only three students weren't stunned by the power Naruto had just simply accepted what she had seen as proof that Naruto really was special. Shino's bugs had been telling him that the silver haired boy was far more powerful, and far more dangerous than he appeared ever since he first entered the room. Shikamaru was taking a nap and had no idea what was and probably wouldn't care even if he was awake.

Iruka just smiled as he handed Naruto a protector. As the young vampire returned to his seat Iruka looked down at the papers on his desk that showed all the grades everyone had received on all their tests. After a minute of reading and shuffling the papers around he stood and loudly cleared his throat.

"Congratulations everyone, you have all passed your exams and are now ready to become genin level shinobi of Konoha. Please come back tomorrow at about three o'clock and you will be grouped into genin cells and assigned a jonin sensei. Now, for the part I know all of you have been waiting for, the Rookie of the year award!"

"In third place Shikamaru Nara!"

Most of the class clapped politely while the recipient of their praise simply groaned and fell back to sleep.

"In second place Shino Aburame!"

Once more the class clapped while Shino just inclined his head and quietly said "Thank you."

"And for the first time in the history of the award we have a two way tie for first. This year the Rookies of the year are… Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto U. Tepes!"

The room was dead silent for a moment before all hell broke loose. Many of the Uchiha's fangirls were screaming at the top of their lungs that Naruto must have cheated somehow. Others were yelling at the fangirls to shut up. Still others were shouting because they hadn't won. The only people who's voices weren't heard were those that Iruka had listed and Hinata.

After a moment or two of listening to the ungodly noise Iruka snapped. "SILENCE!" he roared. "Naruto and Sasuke both scored perfects on all of their tests. So not only did they beat all of you they are tied and that is final! If you still want to complain go take it up with the Hokage. Otherwise, class is dismissed!"

Almost before the final syllable was out of their sensei's mouth Naruto bolted for the door dragging Hinata along behind him. He had a bad feeling that being named co-rookie of the year was going to cause a lot of problems.

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**Okay there it is, Naruto is a ninja like he always dreamed!**

**Now since school is pretty much over the next chapter should be out in about two weeks or so. Don't quote me on that though.**

**As always read, review, insult, whatever. Just give me some feedback! It's like crack for authors!**


	6. Chapter 6

**People of the World! I HAVE RETURNED!**

**Yep, school is finally out and I am back to writing. Now this chapter has actually been done for a while 'cause it's kinda short. I didn't post it though as I was waiting for my required number of reviews. If you don't uunderstand what I am talking about, check out my profile.  
**

**Review Replies!**

**Randomwriter21: Then log in you lazy bum!**

**Krazyfanfiction1: Oh yeah, lots of inventive uses, you'll see. As for the fight with Tsunade that is a brilliant idea! Can I use it?**

**Shashenka: Nope, it is staying outside for a good reason.**

**T51b Moridin: Actually you pretty much nailed the whole generation system idea. It is the d**

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**ilution of Alucards blood. Also Alucard kinda wants Naruto to surpass him in some ways.**

**Wolfone 10: I hate to do this, I really do. But trying to create an entirely new team is just giving me wayyy to many headaches. So sadly Naruto will likely still be stuck on Team 7.**

**Lunarwolf150: As you have requested all the chapters have been realigned. As for Crimson Moon, dude, it is a 75 caliber sniper rifle! It's gonna do some damage!**

**Anyway, enough talking! Please enjoy the product of my Apple juice and Jerky induced hallucinations.**

**Disclaimer: Despite continuing to bribe everyone I still do not own Naruto or Hellsing.**

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Chapter 6: In the eyes of Konoha

Many people stood outside the shinobi academy of Konoha. Most of them were concerned parents whose children were scheduled to take their genin exams that day. Others were friends and family, and still others were just a hand full of older shinobi curious to see what this year's class looked like.

Many of the parents were there quite regularly to pick their child up from the academy and so the gathering had become something of a gossip exchange. Today though they weren't exchanging gossip or telling cute stories about their children. Today they were discussing something, or rather someone, that was quite new to them. A few furtive glances towards a pair of figures standing in the shade of a large tree revealed who they spoke of.

The male of the pair pulled out his cigarette and sighed before addressing his female companion. "My Lady Tepes, I do believe that for future reference you should abstain from wearing that dress while we are in public. Judging from their glances and the conversations I'm hearing, it is causing quite a bit of consternation amongst the locals."

Seras Victoria Tepes frowned at the male. "Chris, while I'm touched by your concern we both know they aren't actually talking about my dress. They're talking about what lies under my dress." She pointed to her rather voluptuous chest before continuing. "It's nothing we haven't seen or heard before. Also, I thought I told you to call me Seras"

"While it is true that they aren't truly talking about your dress I must point out that it hardly deflects their eyes from your, ahem, assets. Furthermore I cannot call you Seras. You are my Queen and I must show you the honor you deserve." Chris replied while tapping the ashes from the tip of his cigarette.

Seras narrowed her eyes just a bit. "Nothing I wear will ever stop people from staring at my chest. They always have and they always will. Trust me on this." Her voice became more of a growl. "And if you ever call me 'Queen' anywhere except inside the castle, you and Captain Bernadette are going to get intimately acquainted. Understand?"

Chris turned to his queen and bowed low. "Whatever you command, my Lady."

She just rolled her eyes and sighed again. "I swear, sometimes your almost as bad as Kenshin or Naruto."

Chris nodded and took a deep drag on his cigarette. When he pulled it out again he spoke. "Yes well, speaking of Naruto here he comes. I believe this would be the point where someone should say 'Speak of the devil and he shall appear.'"

Seras turned. "Who's that with him?"

"I do believe that is his girlfriend."

"You mean HInata-chan?" Seras asked using Naruto's nickname for his love interest. "Wait, how come you can recognize who she is and I don't? I'm his mother and I haven't gotten to meet her yet!"

You are the one you told Kenshin and I to follow Naruto around to make sure that he doesn't get in too much trouble. Considering the amount of time he spends with her it would be rather difficult for us to not know who she is." He blew out a plume of smoke before continuing. "You, on the other hand, have spent most of our time here within the confines of the castle. I rather doubt that Naruto wishes to bring his human girlfriend home to a group of unrepentant vampires."

"We would never hurt her!" Seras said indignantly.

"I am sure he knows that, however I am also sure that he doesn't want to scare her. Thus he has yet to bring her back to the castle." Chris glanced back towards the approaching couple. "Besides, I think you're about to meet her anyway considering how they are running right at us."

By this time many of the other students had also reached their parents and were talking all about their day, specifically those parts that had Naruto in them. This of course enraged many of the adults in the crowd to no end. The very thought of the 'demon brat' being in the same class as their precious children, even for a day, was more than enough to set them off. Thus they sent their kids home and began to move after Naruto.

Seeing the crowd approach right behind Naruto, Chris took another drag before dropping his cigarette to the ground and grinding it into the dirt with his heel. Smoke then escaped from his mouth as he commented on what he saw. "I think I should mention that, judging by the crowd following Naruto, it would appear he has managed to majorly piss someone off, again."

Seras pinched the bridge of her nose and groaned Naruto may have been the bright point of her un-life, but the boy caused her no end of headaches. Shaking it off she smiled at her son as he stopped with Hinata still behind him.

"Hi mom, hi Chris! Boy am I glad to see you!" Naruto said brightly.

Mom. That short word sent shivers down Seras's spine every time she heard it. It hadn't taken Naruto that long to start using it but it still warmed her heart. Especially when she considered the amount of time during which she thought she would never hear it directed towards herself.

She took a step forward, bent down and hugged her son. "Hello Naruto, it's good to see you to honey." She stood back up and looked at the young girl behind her son. "So, is this beautiful young lady the Hinata I have been hearing all about?"

Hinata blushed scarlet when she realized that Naruto had been telling his family about her. Her nervousness at meeting one of Naruto's parents caused her stutter to reappear. "H-Hello m-m-m'am.'

Seras smiled warmly at the young girl in front of her. "Hello there young Lady, it's good to finally meet you. Naruto has told us so much."

Naruto stammered out an interruption. "Um... look this is nice and all but, uh, we don't really have time for this!'

Chris looked at his young prince with a massive grin. "So who did you manage to piss off this time kid?"

Naruto frowned and looked crossly at his friend and sometimes bodyguard. "You make it sound like I piss people off all the time."

_**'Wait, you don't purposely try and piss people off? Wow, and here I thought that was like a cornerstone of your existence.'**_ Kurama commented from his corner of Naruto's mind.

Chris just laughed. "Kid, back home I've got a fifteen page list of all the people you've managed to piss off just since I became your bodyguard." His voice suddenly became dead serious. "So, who'd you piss off and what did you do this time?"

Naruto would've blushed from embarassment if his body had been capable of such an action. "Well... you see... I was named Rookie of the Year-"

Seras squealed and wrapped him up in a bear hug. "I knew you would do it!"

"Mom, let me finish!" Naruto complained. "Look, I tied with last years winner which everyone thinks is impossible so they think I cheated or something! So now everyone who supports him is out to get me!"

"Well that certainly explains the crowd of pissed looking adults walking towards us." Chris said in a flat tone as he pulled out and lit another cigarette. "However judging from the small number of forehead protectors I am seeing I am going to guess that most of them are civilians. Oh, by the way, was the guy you tied with a young man with black eyes, black hair, and what appears to be a permanent scowl?"

"Yeah, that's Sasuke alright."

"He seems to be the crowds leader."

"Oh joy, this just keeps getting better all the time!'. Naruto said sarcastically.

Seeing that trouble was pretty much unavoidable at this point Seras closed her eyes and reached out with her mind.

_'My Lord, we need your help here!' _she cried out telepathically.

_'What is it? This had better be important, I just got word that Aryah is trying something again.'_ Vladimir replied, his weariness and annoyance evident.

_'We have a slight problem over here. Naruto ticked off some of the locals again and they look like they're out for blood.'_ Seras replied.

_'That's it? I fail to see what the problem is. Just kill them all and leave.'_

_ 'Except you forbade anyone, even the guards, from killing anyone without good reason. Also that would go against the laws of the Makai. So, technically, until they actually do something to us, I can't'_

_ 'This is what I get for trying to be nice. Fine, what would you suggest I do to deal with the situation? '_

_ 'I figure a super creepy shadow entrance followed by a couple of death glares should drive these idiots off.' _Seras answered with a creepy smile.

_ 'I will be there in a moment. I have something I must do first.' _ He then severed the connection.

When Seras opened her eyes she was greeted by a rather humorous sight, well humorous for her anyway. A foot or so in front of her Sasuke and Naruto were facing each other. Sasuke had his arms crossed, his eyes narrowed, and his chin lifted in an arrogant manner. Naruto on the other hand was completely relaxed and had his hands in his pockets as if he hadn't a care in the world.

Sasuke spoke first, obviously his way of asserting his superiority in this situation. "Admit it dobe."

Naruto frowned and scrunched his face in confusion. "Just what exactly am I supposed to admit? I don't remember doing anything illegal."

Sasuke's face began to flush with anger. "Admit what you did to tie with me when everyone knows I am the best!"

"OOOOhhhhh, why didn't you just say that? I freely admit that I tied Sasuke due to the fact that I... AM EPICLY AWESOME!" Naruto shouted directly into the Uchiha's face.

A stunned silence filled the air for a few moments. The first noise to break it was the sound of Chris face-palming. Almost instantly the crowd went into an uproar and surged toward and around Naruto to form a ring enclosing the two rookies, Seras, Chris and Hinata.

"You filthy little liar!" roared one member of the crowd. "There is no way some little freak like you could ever hope to be as skilled as Sasuke! He is the last member of the Uchiha, the most powerful and feared clan in Konoha! Whereas you are just a clanless, freakish, bastard, even if you have changed your looks!"

Out of the corner of her eye Seras noted that Chris had been fighting to restrain Hinata ever since the civilian had first said the word 'freak'. She also noticed that a great many of the people in the crowd were nodding in agreement with what the man had said.

A second civilian stepped up and took over where the first had left off. "who the hell let something like you in anyway? You could never be a ninja, not in ten thousand years! Just give up, go home and die you monster!"

Seeing another person start to come forward Seras decided that enough was enough. They were insulting her son not five feet in front of her! How dare they act this way to a boy who had already been through so much! It was time for a little motherly intervention.

"Excuse me." she said as she gently tapped one of the men on his shoulder. A smile lay upon her face and her eyes were narrowed to almost closed. Her smile wasn't one of happiness, rather it was the kind of smile that women seem to have mastered. A death threat hidden behind a facade of joy. "Would one of you nice men tell me why you just said all those things?"

Another man stepped forward and spat at Naruto as he turned to answer Seras. "It's simple, he's a monster and a freak. an unwanted bastard child of a diseased whore. A demon who should have died the day he was born. He should be groveling at our feet thanking us for not killing him in retribution for all those he killed. No. he should go back to his hole in the ground and kill himself. finish what the Yondaime started and rid the world of another demon!" When he finished he spat again, this time he hit Seras's shoe.

Seras continued to smile sweetly and nodded as if she agreed. "Thank you, I understand now."

The man grunted and smirked thinking that he had just found a new person to add to the 'fox hunt' he was planning.

Seeing the man smile Seras dropped her smile. "I understand completely." She then opened her eyes. The crowd gasped and trembled when they saw the furious crimson pools of her eyes. "I understand that you are all idiots and monsters of the truest sense. Even demons wouldn't do what you have done. I will give you one chance, walk away now and I will forget what happened here. However, if any of you ever dare to insult my son ever again, I will rip you apart piece by bloody piece. And I will take guilt free pleasure in your screams and your pain!" By the end her normally sweet voice had become a rasping growl like that of some huge predator.

"So you're the demons whore!' a womans voice shouted.

The crowd parted to allow a woman with disturbingly bright pink hair to approach Seras with a sneer chiseled into her features. "So you're the mother of that little monster. Tell me, how does it feel to know that your son is a blood-thirsty murderous demon who would kill us all the moment he got a chance?"

Seras growled in reply. "Don't call my son that name again."

"So how was it? What did you have to sell for that one night? Your soul, your humanity, what was it?"

When Seras didn't deign to answer the woman became enraged. "You disgust me almost as much as that thing does! You are a disgrace to all women! You're nothing more than a demon loving whore who betrayed her own humanity!" The woman raised her hand to strike Seras across her face.

"SCUM!" a voice so deep, and so powerful that the very ground seemed to shake. The pink haired woman dropped her hand and looked around for the source of the voice, but couldn't see anyone.

"In my life I have seen a great many fools, and more foolish ideas and actions than there are stars in the sky. However, what I see before me now disgusts me more than all of those things put together!' The voice continued, it's ire evident.

"Who are you?!' someone in the crowd yelled.

"Someone who cannot allow what he sees to continue." the voice replied.

"Another demon lover come to join the party eh? Get out here so we can kill you along with the demon you love so much!" Another person yelled.

"You are either very brave or very foolish to want to meet your death face to face." the voice commented in a mocking tone. "The arrogance of humans truly knows no bounds. However I have a certain interest in killing you all myself!"

With that said Vladimir emerged from the shadow of the tree in all his dark and armored glory like a ghost. In the crowd hearts unexpectedly picked up speed as droplets of sweat suddenly glistened on foreheads. Those few shinobi who were part of the crowd were very, very had all felt the weight of unleashed chakra and the gut wrenching fear of killer intent. This was like both put together only ten times worse. The fear they now felt made them feel like children again and were having a terrible nightmare they could not awaken from. A nightmare in which they knew that they were about to be killed but could do nothing to fight back. This man exuded an aura of the one thing that all people feared. This man was death incarnate.

A few thought that perhaps this feeling they had was simply part of a genjutsu and futilely attempted to dispel the illusion they thought they were trapped in.

Vladimir simply laughed at them. "This is no illusion , this is the reality of my power. I am as real as you and I shall prove it."

A psychotic grin appeared on the ancient vampires face as the rage that had been building in him suddenly caused his eyes to almost glow. Those burning crimson orbs fell upon the man who had spat on Seras's shoe. Said man, who had previously almost been vibrating with fear suddenly became paralyzed by the sight of those fell orbs. He could only watch as Vladimir slowly crossed the space between them.

His fear skyrocketed as Vladimir slowly drew his sword and gently let the edge rest upon the skin of the mans throat. Two tiny drops of crimson appeared on the pristine blade. Seeing these droplets all the gathered vampires eyes seemed to suddenly glow with an evil inner light.

Vlaidimir's eyes shone brightest of all as he met the man's terrified gaze. " You have foolishly dared to insult my son and you have defiled mt lady. You have committed the ultimate crime, you dared to sully the honor of my family. The price for this crime is your life, die."

The blade barely seemed to twitch in the ancient vampires grip yet the blade passed through the unfortunate civilians neck like it was nothing more than a single sheet of tissue paper. With a second twitch the now bodiless head went flying through the air before striking the ground with a wet smack before rolling a few times. When its motion came to a halt it had struck the hems of a white robe, the robe of the Hokage.

Seeing the Hokage and his escort of ANBU agents the civilians all began yelling for the old warriors attention at the same time. Eventually the pink haired woman stepped forward once more and addressed the Hokage directly.

" Hokage-sama I demand that you arrest this man immediately for the murder of a citizen of Konoha!" she shouted with an almost commanding tone.

The Hokage simply stared at the woman for a few moments with tired eyes. He then took a long and deep pull from his pipe to calm himself before releasing it all in one long stream of smoke. Glancing quickly over his shoulder he addressed the dragon masked ANBU standing directly behind him.

" Ryu, please dispose of the corpse before it begins to stink. Then go and inform his family of what has happened here. Make sure they understand that seeking vengeance will only result in more deaths on their part." The Hokage commanded in a serious tone.

'Ryu' nodded before he and the corpse disappeared in a large poof of smoke.

The Hokages tired old eyes looked up and met Vladimir's merciless crimson gaze. Both could see the power hidden deep down, power that neither would wishupon their worst enemies. "Vladimir-san, I can see the end result of what happened. However, I want to know what exactly happened here."

The ancient vampire looked at the old warrior with a barely visible smirk. "As you command lord Hokage. My son was declared to be one of this years Rookie's of the year. However, these people seem to come to the conclusion that Naruto has somehow cheated. I arrived after the initial confrontation so I do not know exactly what happened as I was contacting you. However once I did arrive I witnessed the man who so recently departed this world spitting upon my wife." His voice dropped an octave or two. "I could not allow any member of my family to be so despoiled, so I dealt with him as I saw fit."

The old man looked vaguely upset at Vladimir's explanation but did not immediately reply. Instead he took a moment and took another deep drag on his pipe to calm himself before finally speaking. " I believe I now understand what has occurred here. I wish to apologize for the insults the villagers have given to your family."

"Your apology is graciously accepted, lord Hokage. I thank you for allowing me to deal with the insults tendered to my family." Vladimir said with a deep and humbling bow.

A small smile graced the Hokage's wrinkled visage. "Your thanks are not necessary my friend. You did as you saw fit to repay an insult to your honor. Now, if I remember correctly we all have somewhere to be shortly."

"Very true my lord. We shall see you shortly." Vladimir replied with a bow before he and the rest of his kind turned and quickly walked away.

Seeing the person she saw as her enemy walking away without even a talking down the pink haired woman roared with fury. "Hokage-sama, are you just going to let them walk away like this!? That man murdered a citizen of this village in cold blood! If he is capable of doing something like that who knows what he could have taught that demon! We should arrest and execute them all befo-"

The woman suddenly found that she had her voice as the Hokage glared at her. It wasn't the glare of the tired old man that she was used to. This was a glare coming fr0om the man who had taught the three legendary sannin, the man who had mastered all of the jutsu of Konoha, the god of shinobi. This was the glare of the Hokage.

"Council woman Haruno, in all honesty this was nothing more than a quarrel between children until you and your 'friends' intervened. You cannot blame Vladimir-san for the death of that man, he was simply defending his family as is his right. " His glare became more focused and the assembled civilians felt the old man's killer intent crash down upon them. "I also feel I should remind you that a certain law regarding a certain 'demon' as you call him is still in effect. So if I ever hear of you ever saying anything like this ever again you will be spending a night in Ibiki's tender care! Do I make myself clear!"

"Yes Hokage-sama!" The group chorused.

The old man sighed at the civilians 'yes man' attitudes. "Now go back to your homes and forget all about this little incident." He then turned and started to walk back to his office while shaking his head. _'Oh this council meeting is going to be sooo much fun. I'm sooo looking forward to this."_

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(12:00pm, Konoha Council Chamber)

The Hokage sighed wearily as he looked around the large room that housed the ruling council of Konoha. As he met the eyes of each person seated within the large circular room he made a mental note on their attendance. Once he had everyone accounted for he sighed again and thought about what the council was.

On one side of the room sat the ten members of the civilian council. Owners of the larger businesses and leaders of the various civilian groups that kept the village running on a day to day basis. Many ninja did not like the fact that the civilian council existed at all, but the wise old Hokage knew that if the civilians didn't do what they did the shinobi would have to take over the running of the village which would waste precious time and resources. He knew the civilians were necessary, but that didn't mean he liked it.

Sitting across from the civilians sat the clan heads from the ten most powerful clans of Konoha, the Senju, Sarutobi, Namikaze, Nara, Yamanaka, Akimichi, Hyuuga, Uchiha, Aburame, and Inuzuka. Sadly far too many of those seats of power were vacant. The Namikazes had been all but wiped out in the last war and the last member, Minato Namikaze, the fourth Hokage, had died on the night that the Kyuubi attacked. The Senju were in the same boat, however their last member, Tsunade, simply refused to return to Konoha for personal reasons. All of the Uchiha, save one spoiled brat, had all been slaughtered by one of their own. Due to this loss of clan leadership the council was unbalanced and left the civilians with more power than the shinobi.

He had tried to counteract this imbalance by appointing three of his old teammates as members of the council as his advisors. However two of them only sided with him on key issues. The third advisor, Danzo Shimura, had his own agenda.

The old man took one final drag from his pipe before tapping his gavel on his desk to bring the room to order. "I call this session of the ruling council of Konoha to order. On today's agenda we have the formation of this years Genin teams, the trade dispute with Mizu no Kuni, as well as the recent loss of diplomatic contact with Sunagakure. We shall proceed with the agenda unless one of the members has an objection or an issue they would like to bring before the council for disccussion?"

Srangely Shibi Aburme stood from his chair. Normally he stayed silent through almost the entirety of the meetings, when he did speak it was usually a well thought out and perfectly logical answer to whatever issue was being discussed. He had never brought an issue to the council. "I do not have an issue Hokage-sama but rather a question. An hour ago my son returned home from the academy and informed me that a young man named Naruto Tepes had tied with Sasuke Uchiha for the title of Rookie of the year. This confused me as I did not recognize the name. He then informed me that he theorized that this Naruto Tepes was simply Naruto Uzumaki using a different name. I simply wish to know if his theory is correct. Has Naruto Uzumaki returned to Konoha?"

Silence reigned throughout the room as the Aburame returned to his in the room was for two deeply involved in their own thoughts about the ex-resident Jinchurikki to say anything. Some who saw Naruto as a simple weapon were excited by this opportunity. Otthers were furious at the mere thought of the 'demon' returning. Most of the Shinobi council were torn and honestly did not know what to think. However their internal thoughts ended as the Hokage answered.

"While I do know the answer to your question Shibi-san I will get to it momentarily. Before I do though I have an announcement of my own that I feel ought to be addressed first." The old warrior sad with the smallest of smiles.

The mood of the room quickly changed from pensive to curious. Many wondered what could be so important that the Hokage himself would bring it before the council?

"As you are all aware over the past many years we have lost far to many of our fine shinobi. Many were lost in the last war, in fact two of our greatest clans were reduced to a single member each in the course of the war, Minato Namikaze and Tsunade Senju. Since the war ended Tsunade disappeared, Minato died protecting the village, and the Uchiha were all but wiped out. Since the tie of those tragic losses we have barely managed to retain the title of the strongest village, mostly through numbers and a few exceptional jonin." The old warrior took a breath. "Two weeks ago I found a way to possibly recoup some of our horrific losses. I was contacted by a clan fleeing the bloodline purges in Kiri. They informed me that they have lost many of their members, but I told them, after hearing of their abilities, that they would be welcome members of Konoha."

Many whispered conversations broke out around the room as the council members discussed what the addition of a new clan to Konoha could mean. Many on the civilian side were trying to come up with ways to turn the addition of this new clan to their economic advantage while the shinobi were looking for political opportunities.

"Thus, without any further ado I wish to welcome the newest clan of Konoha, the Tepes!"

With that the large iron doors of the room shot open and five people marched in. Vladimir led the group looking regal and quite intimidating in his steel armor and flowing black cape. Behind him was the radiant beauty and allure of Seras, still wearing her cheongsam dress. Naruto was next to her with his hood up and his face hidden in shadow. Behind them walked a tense Kenshin whose eyes flitted from place to place looking for any and all threats. Next to him was Chris whose relaxed gait and dangling cigarette hid tensed muscles. The small group stopped in the center of the room and bowed to the Hokage.

Vladimir stood and addressed the room. "Council members of Konoha, I thank you for allowing us to join the ranks of your shinobi. After we fled Kiri we had nowhere to call our own but now we do. Thank you."

Hearing Vladimir's calm yet dark and commanding voice many members of the civilian council blanched in recognition.

Hiashi Hyuuga sensed that Vladimir was, like him, a true noble and so spoke first. "Allow me to be the first to welcome you and your clan to Konoha Lord Tepes. I truly hope that you and the rest of your clan will find a second home here. However, I must admit that I have no recollection of hearing of your clan before. May I inquire as to why that is?"

"I do not find it that hard to believe that you have not heard of us before now Lord Hyuuga." Vladimir replied with a disconcerting smile. " Many of the more influential members of Kiri long tried to keep our existence a secret. They considered us to be their ace in the hole against Konoha."

"The ace in the hole? That is a lofty claim for such a small clan Lord Tepes. May I inquire as to why you say this?" Hiashi asked.

"Kiri has always known that if it came to an actual war Konoha would win through sheer weight in numbers. Our clan has always specialized in infiltration and assassinations. So the plan was that we would sneak into your lines along with the seven swordsmen and eliminate your Hokage and ANBU before the main forces attacked. Due to our skills with shadow jutsus and our specialized clan weaponry few doubted that we could complete the plan." Vlladimir explained. Most of his explanation was a total lie of course. He was simply coming up with a good answer based off of what the Hokage had written as the clans history and what he had been told of Kiri.

Inoichi Yamanaka leaned forward in his chair at this point. "You said that you use shadow jutsus. I was under the impression that jutsus of that kind were limited to members of the Nara clan."

Vladimir looked straight at Shikaku Nara as he replied. "While it is true that many of the shadow type jutsu are undoubtedly those of the Nara, ours are quite different. Correct me if I am wrong, but the majority of the Nara clan jutsus are primarily meant as support type jutsu correct?"

Shikaku nodded and indicated for Vladimir to continue.

"Our jutsu are meant more for direct combat than support. Most are relatively short range and short duration. Most also revolve around using the shadows as actual weapons to slay our foes with." Vladimir finished.

"That is certainly quite a dangerous ability you have Lord Tepes." Inoichi said with a hint of respect.

"I must agree." Danzo agreed from his place at the Hokage's side. "Your abilities aside I cannot help but wonder why it is that you chose to come to Konoha? If your clan was the trump against us why did you come here?"

Vladimir wanted to rip the scarred man's head off for questioning his statements but he kept his impulses in check. "My wife and I simply wanted to find the safest place for our son to grow up in peace. We thought that Konoha was that place."

"In that case I wish to ask why you decided that Konoha was the safest place to raise the Jinchurikki you stole from us?" Danzo asked pointedly.

Hearing this the council room went dead silent. All of their attention was suddenly focused on the smaller figure standing behind Vlaidimir.

"We have stolen nothing from your village. Four years ago one of our members came across a young boy about to die. Using clan techniques we saved him and he has lived with us ever since." Vladimir replied in a lower tone. "We saved him, we did not steal him."

Since only the Hokage and a few members of his ANBU bodyguard had lived through that night only they knew what had really happened. Danzo could do nothing to refute Vladimir's statements.

Naruto finally summoned all of his courage and stepped forward while pulling back his hood to reveal his silver hair and whiskerless face. "I am Naruto Tepes. I will fully admit that four years ago my parents saved me from dying. However when they saved me the Kyuubi was destroyed."

Many members of the council on both sides of the room took in shocked bresths at this statement.

"The moment the Kyuubi died so did Naruto Uzumaki. The blonde haired jinchurikki is dead. I am not him, I am Naruto Tepes, shinobi of Konohagakure!"

* * *

**And so now everyone knows he is back! I won't bore you with more of the council scenes or anything like that.  
**

**Next chapter will have death in it and will mark the beginning of Naruto's real problems.**

**So until I finish Chapter 7, Read and Review! Or I will find you!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hellking Uzumaki is here once more with more amazingness!**

**I am so totally on a roll! And I cannot believe I actually just said that, wrote it, whatever it is that I did, I don't believe it.**

**I have published a new story and updated two existing ones in less than a half hour! Damn I'm good! Sometimes I even amaze myself, but I have really low standards, so that's not actually that hard to do. **

**Review Replies!**

**eniox27: Indeed it was. As am I.**

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**MidnightHunter563: I did warn you it would be short.**

**RandomWriter21: Keep giving me reviews and I will.**

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**AJGuardian: Yeah well, I thought it sounded cooler that way.**

**Ubiquitouch: She will in the next chapter.**

**NF15617: Thank you for your kind words. However in all honesty I am just making this up as I go.**

**Enough talking! Time for some screaming!**

**Please enjoy the products of my Kool-aid and French Toast induced Hallucinations!**

**Disclaimer: My last attmept to break into Shonen Jump was a failure so I still own nothing.**

* * *

Chapter 7: The monster Appears!

6:04 pm- Somewhere in the forest around Konoha

Naruto sat in a small clearing amongst the trees in perfect silence. His legs were crossed and his eyes were held tightly shut. To any who were even marginally aware of the energy all people possessed it was clear that he was deep in some sort of meditative trance. That said few if any would have been able to come up with a rational explanation for the fact that he was floating just over a foot off the ground. The fact that six orbs of absolute darkness floated in a circle around him probably wouldn't have helped the situation.

For a few moments both Naruto and the orbs remained perfectly still. Then the young prince's expression went from one resembling deep concentration to something more akin to that of physical pain. His face twisted and contorted as he fought some invisible battle. After a few moments of this the orbs faded and flickered out of existence one by one. When the final one vanished Naruto exhaled suddenly and fell to the ground with an undignified "Oomph!"

Slowly he righted himself and leaned back on his arms. As he did so he stretched out his body to try and work the stiffness out of his muscles. He had been meditating since he was kicked out of the council meeting almost four hours ago. Apparently after his little speech a huge political argument started over whether or not he could actually be a part of the Tepes 'clan'. After that argument had ended they had started in on the team formation discussions but he had to leave for those as he would be on one of the teams. So he had left the village and come out here to train.

Judging by the annoyed scowl was readily obvious upon his face, said training had not gone as well as he would have liked. "Gah! I was so close to manifesting the next one too! I think I finally have the hang of holding them now though, so I guess this wasn't a complete waste of time."

_**'Um… You know, I hate to rain on your parade but, you didn't hold them any longer than you did yesterday. You made absolutely no progress, congratulations you're an idiot.'**_ Kurama commented from the back of Naruto's mind.

_'That's not true! I was totally more in control this time! You're just trying to discourage me from accessing your power!' _Naruto accused.

_**'Oh no, whatever shall I do now that you know my grand plan?' **_ The fox replied sarcastically. _**'Seriously though, why would I want to stop you from using me to fight with? Really it's my only chance to stretch my legs, as it were.'**_

_'You don't have any legs, you're just a spirit.' _ Naruto pointed out.

_**'It's a metaphor you moron.'**_ The kitsune replied testily.

_'Ohhhh! Well why didn't you say so?'_

_**'I just did say so you… Ya know what, this conversation is going nowhere fast.'**_

_'Well I certainly haven't gone anywhere.'_

_**'Ohhh my head. Look let's just get back to your failed attempt at training shall we?' **_ Kurama asked hopefully.

_'It wasn't a failure! I managed to fully manifest six for a whole minute this time!' _ Naruto said with more than a hint of pride.

_**'How many did you get yesterday?'**_

_'Six!'_

_**'And how long did you hold them?'**_

_'About a minute.'_

_**'…'**_

_'What?'_

_**'You aren't even listening to your own answers are you?'**_

_'No. Why would I listening to what I'm saying?'_

_**'I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that so I don't have a brain aneurysm.' **_ Kurama said with a deep sigh. _**'Look you haven't made any progress at manifesting me since you trained with your father. I still think that the key to unlocking me as a full familiar is rage. You are going to have to get angry.'**_

_'…That is about the worst idea I have ever heard. And I have looked back at some of my younger self's plans.' _Naruto replied dryly.

_**'I fail to see what your problem is! We Bijuu are manifestations of humanities darker emotions, I just happen to be the incarnation of rage. Thus rage is what fuels my power and so it would make sense that your rage would allow you to access my powers! It isn't that hard to understand!' **_Kurama replied in an offended tone. _**'It's not like I'm suggesting that you go and slaughter the villagers or anything."**_

_'No, you're telling me to go into a berserker rage!'_ Naruto retorted angrily.

In his heart Naruto understood that Kurama was probably right but he really didn't want to risk it. His father had explained the danger of going berserk. For a vampire, especially a fledgling such as himself, losing oneself to anger was a huge problem. Oh sure, vampires could get angry like everyone else but they had to keep it tightly controlled. If they didn't they went into berserker mode and essentially would attack anything near them with all their might until there was no one left to attack. For Naruto going berserk would be especially bad as if he went berserk there was a good likelihood that he would unconsciously use Kurama's power. Thus he would become a berserk vampire being fueled by the unlimited energy of the mightiest of the bijuu, not a good thing in the least. So as one might expect Naruto was rather hesitant about trying to use his anger to tap into the fox's power.

As he continued to think he realized that something seemed a little off. It felt like there was something missing from this moment, something that should have been glaringly obvious but somehow wasn't. After a few more moments of silent contemplation he realized what was missing. His mind was never silent when he was alone; Kurama was always bugging him or teasing him about something or other. Yet now the fox was eerily silent.

_'Hello?! Kurama!? Anybody home!?' _ He mentally called.

Only continuing silence greeted him in return.

_'Oi! Fluffy! Say something you big, fat, overgrown excuse for a plush toy!' _Naruto mentally screamed.

_**'I AM NOT A PLUSH TOY!' **_Kurama roared in response.

_'Don't yell at me! I was just trying to get your attention!" _Naruto yelled in return.

_**'Then don't insult me and we won't have a problem!' **_The Fox replied angrily. _**'Now what do you want?'**_

_'You went silent for a couple seconds when you could've been teasing me. That's not like you. What's going on?' _Naruto explained in a far quieter voice.

_**'Someone is coming, rather quickly I might add.' **_The fox replied.

_'Why didn't you just say that a minute ago?'_

_**'I wasn't sure whether or not they were coming our way so I didn't mention it.'**_

_'So are they coming this way?'_

_**'Yes.'**_

Naruto leapt to his feet and let his eyes scan the forest around him. _'How many are there, and where are they coming from?'_

_**'There are two coming from Konoha together.'**_

Looking towards Konoha Naruto shut his eyes and concentrated on his hearing. Slowly he sifted through all the normal noises of the forest until he isolated one that did not belong. He could faintly hear the soft thudding of someone running through the trees. Zeroing in on where it was he inhaled deeply hoping that his vampiric olfactory senses may be able to identify the unknown runner. He figured that if they were from Konoha they might have a scent that he might recognize. Sadly he was too far away to catch anything himself. Thankfully there was someone else who could look through all the things he sensed.

_ 'Kurama, can you find anything that stands out?'_

The fox said nothing as he scanned through all of his host's memories in hopes of finding some identification. After a moment he found something that was definitely not part of the forest. _**'Well we have some form of cheap cologne, freshly oiled steel, probably a kunai or several, paper, nervous sweat, and for some reason just a hint of floral perfume.'**_

_'Well that was completely unhelpful. You got any ideas on who it is, 'cause I got nothing.' _ Naruto commented flatly.

_**'Well… Don't quote me on this but I'm pretty sure that it's Mizuki. Also If I had to guess on the identity of the second person I'd say it's a girl, and Mizuki probably kidnapped her judging by the fear rolling off of her.**_

Hearing Kurama's answer Naruto took off at a run. _'How far out are they?'_ He asked as he tried to go faster.

_**'About a mile or so, so at current speed, one minute. Then it's just two minutes 'til the sun goes down and we can really play with this bastard.' **_ The fox reported with a dark chuckle.

Naruto grunted in reply but was smiling internally. He ran in silence for a few more moments before he heard an unbelievably loud roar coming from within his mind. In fact it was so loud that it caused him to trip and fall bringing him to a rather painful stop.

_'What the hell Kurama, what's got you all steamed up?' _Naruto inquired. He was curious as to what could possibly make the fox this angry.

When Kurama deigned to reply it was rather obvious that he was having a hard time keeping his emotions in check. _**'Unfortunately it seems that I was correct. That bastard did kidnap someone and it's definitely a girl.**_

Naruto was a more than a little shocked. _'Hang on a minute. You're an ancient blood-crazed super demon who would slaughter hundreds without a second thought. Yet you're getting all pissed off over someone kidnapping a girl?'_

_**'A blood-thirsty demon I may be but I do have morals. Hurting a female simply to hurt them is a crime against nature. I would never do something like that if I could help it.' **_The fox paused for a moment before continuing in a much quieter tone. _**'Also, I think the girl he has is Hinata.'**_

Before the fox could finish his sentence Naruto was off like a flash. Focusing all his attention and energy into going faster he could still barely hold back his rage. Eventually though he couldn't contain it all and he became little more than a black streak winding his way through the trees.

In a matter of mere moments Naruto's vampiric eyes caught sight of Mizuki as he hurried away from the village. Sadly it appeared that Kurama was right, Hinata was slung over the chunin's shoulder like a sack of potatoes. An evil and psychotic smirk graced Naruto's features as he came up with a new plan for dealing with Mizuki. Quickly changing his course Naruto got ahead of the kidnapper and knelt on the forest floor.

"I'd better be able to pull this off." Naruto muttered to himself before running through a very long series of handsigns. When he finished he punched the ground with all of his considerable might. "Onipou: Shikei Dohyo." (Execution Arena)

Looking up he spotted a large gray wall rise from the ground just over a hundred yards away. Looking to the left and right he saw a similar wall at a similar distance. Only behind him was the wall open allowing Mizuki to enter but just after he did the wall was designed to seal itself. Effectively trapping Mizuki inside an iron arena with a rather angry vampire.

With his psychotic smirk still in place Naruto leapt into the trees and lay down on a branch. Quite content to let his prey come to him.

No more than a minute later Naruto heard the distinct crunch of leaves being crushed underfoot. His prey had finally arrived, now it was time to let the darker part of himself go wild. He only hoped that Mizuki would last long enough to be any fun.

"It's a beautiful night for a nice long walk in the woods, isn't it? Though, I somehow get the feeling that a peaceful walk is not what you had in mind." Naruto said calmly. Even though he wasn't actively doing anything his voice emerged much deeper and raspier than it normally sounded.

Hearing this unknown voice Mizuki stopped in his tracks and drew a kunai from his pouch. He then quickly dumped Hinata onto the ground before wildly scanning the trees around him for the voice.

Forcing a good amount of bravado into his own voice Mizuki replied. "Whoever you are, I suggest you let me continue unimpeded. I am on official Konoha business!" Inside the chunin was sweating. While it was unlikely that anyone had yet discovered his crime it was still possible that the Hyuuga had sent someone themselves. What was more frightening was that he couldn't detect event the faintest amount of chakra anywhere nearby, indicating that whoever this was, the were very highly skilled.

Naruto just laughed at Mizuki's obvious lie. As he laughed he leapt to another branch a little closer to his target. "For a shinobi, you are a terrible liar. The young woman you have with you is the heir to one of the great clans of Konoha. Unless there is a civil war going on that I am unaware of I doubt that Konoha would appreciate your kidnapping of an heiress. So I believe that you are attempting something both foolish and illegal."

Mizuki visibly flinched. A few beads of sweat gathered at his temple and his heart rate began to speed up. "Why do you care about what happens inside Konoha?"

Naruto leapt to yet another branch. "Curiosity and boredom mostly."

Mizuki smirked as his heart-rate continued to climb. "Well you know what they say, curiosity killed the cat. I should warn you, I am a high ranked chunin, continue to delay me, and I will kill you."

Naruto chuckled. "How can you kill me if you don't know where I am?"

"This is your last warning, try anything, and your a dead man." Mizuki said as he tried to put up a brave front.

Naruto laughed darkly as he alighted on a branch almost directly above Mizuki. "Try anything? Who said I was going to try something?"

Mizuki let out a haggard breath and relaxed a little. "Then leave me be and be on your way!"

"I wasn't finished, Mizuki." Naruto growled. "You see I'm not going to try anything. I'm just going to kill you.

"Say that to my face you coward!"

"Very well." With that Naruto released his hold on the branch and landed just a few feet in front of a rather annoyed looking chunin.

Mizuki just stared at his now revealed attacker. For a moment he was stunned speechless, then he began to laugh. "Oh, ho, ho! Oh, this is rich! So, the little demon boy thinks he can fight me just because he was ranked as one of the top rookies! Kid you are so out of your league it's funny!" After a few more moments his humor was replaced by a blood thirsty anger. "I'm going to enjoy carving you up, you freak of nature!"

"Is that so? Well Mizuki, I am going to return the advice you gave a moment ago. Here is my advice, don't blink, or you'll miss it."

The two warriors stared at each other for a few moments. Each was trying to guess at his opponents next move. Suddenly the sound of a quiet groan broke their concentration.

Hinata groaned again and shook her head as she sat up. "N-Naruto-kun? Is that you? What's going on? Where am I?"

A somewhat crazed grin appeared on Mizuki's face as he answered the young girls innocent questions. "Well, how are we feeling my little Hyuuga whore? Up for a little trip to Kumo? Well guess what, we're going anyway! They're offering 500,000 ryo for a living Hyuuga female!" He grin only widened at Hinata's horrified expression. "Before we go though, I'm going to kill the kyuubi once and for all!"

Hinata's horror and confusion only grew with Mizuki's statement. When she spoke the stutter that she had worked so had to repress over the last several years reappeared. "B-But the K-K-Kyuub-bi has been d-dead for y-y-years!?"

Mizuki cackled madly. "Ha! That's where your wrong!" A tiny glint of madness appeared in the chunin's eyes. "Even our savior the fourth Hokage, couldn't kill the demon! So instead he bound it into human form so that we could have our revenge and finish his work for him!" His mad gaze met Hinata's. "Haven't you ever wondered why your precious Naruto-kun was treated the way he was? Why he was shunned, beaten, and hated, by the entire village?"

Absolute horror and crushing grief began to appear in Hinata's eyes as her mind made the connections that Mizuki was hinting at.

"That's right! He was treated the way he was because they all knew that he is the demon fox!"

Hinata quickly turned towards Naruto with a horrified and pleading gaze, silently begging him with her eyes to deny Mizuki's claims. However, rather than decrying his enemy's claims Naruto lowered his eyes to the ground as if he were ashamed of something. In sheer terror Hinata fainted once more.

Mizuki took Naruto's this as a sign that the teen had given in to death and so drew an enormous shuriken from a holder on his back. In his skilled fingers the four points of the shuriken seemed to disappear as the entire weapon became a buzzsaw slowly inching towards Naruto.

Suddenly the silver haired teen looked up and looked Mizuki square in the eyes as he spoke. "You truly are an idiot Mizuki."

Unable to help himself Mizuki replied. "Oh and why is that? It seems to me that the one about to die would be seen as the idiot."

Naruto's grin became unnervingly wide. "Well, if I truly am the mighty nine-tailed demon fox that even the Fourth Hokage couldn't beat, what makes you think yoIu even stand a chance against me?"

Mizuki's eyes widened to almost comic dimensions. He had never truly thought about that. He began to wonder if he had just made a terrible mistake.

Naruto's eyes became cold and his voice flattened. "Oh, and one more thing you should know before this farce of a fight gets under way. All that you saw me do at the academy was just a quarter of my true power. The moment sunlight touches my skin seventy-five percent of my power is sealed away within me. So long as the sun remains in the sky above I can only use half of my power. Only under the cold light of the moon and the stars can my full power be unleashed."

"You're lying! The fourth sealed all of your powers away demon! Now you are nothing more than an annoying brat!"

"If that is the case, why do you reek of fear?"

Mizuki snarled at the verbal riposte before throwing his still spinning shuriken forwar with all of his strength. Seeing the rather obvious attack Naruto decided to play with his prey a bit before killing him outright. Just before the shuriken struck Naruto lespt straight into the air and flipped right over the shuriken.

The young prince smirked as he landed. "You missed." he said in a rather bored tone hoping to further enrage the already maddened chunin. His ploy worked as he could almost hear the veins popping in Mizuki's forehead. But then, before he could launch his next verbal barrage he felt something change.

It felt as though the world had stopped for a single instant before restarting much more slowly. Everything around him was clearer, sharper, more obvious. Naruto took a moment to savor the moment, the moment of final sunset. His true powers were finally unleashed and ready for use.

His smirk became a the grin of a serial killer as he looked at Mizuki once more. "It's a pity you missed, you won't be getting another shot."

Mizuki just snorted in disbelief.

Naruto sighed and turned his eyes up to the sky. "Mizuki, you just don't get this, do you? During the day humans rule this world under the sun. The light illuminates all threats and reveals falsehoods and those which prowl the night cannot withstand the light and so you are safe. But when the sun has fallen, everything changes. For when night falls the shadows grow and the beasts of the dark come forth to hunt. In the shadows there is nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, there is only the dark." Naruto lowered his eyes back to Mizuki, as he did they seemed to glow with an eerie inner light. "And in the shadows, no one can save you from the beasts!"

"Enough of your prattling demon! Just shut up and die!" Mizuki roared as he threw his second shuriken.

Rather than block or dodge Mizuki's attack Naruto decided to show off a little. With a casual flick of his wrist the young prince snagged the weapon from mid-air with just one hand.

"Is this the best you can do, dog?" Naruto said contemptuously. "Pathetic."

Barely flexing his fingers he proceeded to shatter the hardened steel instrument of death.

The chunins eyes flashed wide at this casual display of strength from his opponent. He was still convinced that he could win however and so readied his next move. This time he opted for quantity over quality and flung a good dozen normal sized shuriken quickly followed by a few kunai towards his young target. He figured that there was no way for Naruto to dodge or block them all, there were too many. However his hope turned to horror as the weapons passed straight through his silver haired foe.

"Just what exactly are you looking at over there?" Naruto asked tauntingly.

Mizuki whirled about to see Naruto standing just a few feet behind him. "Coward, running off and leaving a clone behind to keep me occupied." he hissed furiously.

"If it were anyone else but me you would be applauding the idea. However you aren't quite right. I never made a clone, that was simply an afterimage."

"Liar! There is no way a beast like you could ever move that fast!" Mizuki roared as he readied another kunai for attack.

"You aren't going to hit me Mizuki, I'll dodge anything you throw at me, just give up already."

Something snapped in the chunin and a manic gleam appeared in his eyes. "You can't dodge what I don.t attack you with! Lets' see you stop this!" As he finished he spun and threw the kunai into Hinata's unconscious chest.

Or, at least, he tried to.

An instant before the knife would have left his hand Mizuki felt his wrist strike something like a brick wall. Then the blade was forced from his hand as a steel vise clamped down upon the wrist. Looking at his arm the obstruction currently attempting to crush his wrist and found that it was Naruto's hand. Looking up the arm the chunin met his attackers eyes. No longer were they bright blue, now they were icy pools of cold anger.

All at once the caught chunin broke out into a cold sweat, his heart began to race, his breathing quickened and his mouth dried up. Some small instinctual part of his mindbegan to desperately call for him to run away, to flee, to do anything to get away from here. Even if he would never consciously admit it some small part of the chunin knew what Naruto truly was. It knew that if he didn't run away now he was going to die. But, Mizuki was a chunin he had been trained to suppress and ignore his fears, which he did. Even so, the tiniest worm of doubt crept into his mind, he thought there was a possibility that Naruto hadn't been bluffing.

When Naruto finally spoke again his voice emerged as a deep animalistic growling. "You just did something truly, deeply, unforgivably, stupid!" He growled through clenched teeth. "He dared to try and hurt someone I love and care for! I was going to let you live, but now, I'M GOING TO RIP YOU APART!"

As if to prove his point his hand twitched. When it did a loud 'crunch' was heard as every bone in the chunin's wrist was instantly turned to powder. Mizuki screamed at the ungodly pain and fell to his knees as he staved off unconsciousness. He cried out once more as he felt the steel grip latch onto his shoulder and begin to squeeze once more.

With one last surge of energy the chunin turned his head and spat on his torturers boot. He then looked up into his enemy's eyes. "Do your worst, demon filth!" Mizuki hoped that his words would psych the teen out just long enough for him to escape. Instead of confusion and indecision, steely resolve appeared in the blue eyes.

"My worst?" A truly terrifying grin spread across the teens face. "Just remember you asked for this! I hope your soul will enjoy a thousand years of pain and torture!"

A glint of true and terrible madness flare deep in the prince's eyes. His head tilted back and his mouth opened as wide as it could go. Inside were dozens of enormous fangs, far morw teeth than could ever fit in a human's jaw. His eyes instantly shifted from electric blus to burning scarlet in a heartbeat. Mizuki could only watch with mounting horror.

"What,,, What are you? What the fuck are you!?" Mizuki cried out.

"I am a monster that hunts other monsters!"

Naruto's head lurched forward into the juncture of Mizuki's neck and shoulders. His jaws clamped down on the unfortunate chunins neck. His massive fangs easily sunk deep into the windpipe and subclavian artery causing the traitor to begin choking on his own blood even as Naruto drained it from him. Slowly the flow of blood began to falter as did Mizuki's struggles. The chunins eyes glassed over and his limbs went limp. A few seconds later Naruto grunted and opened his jaw allowing the corpse to fall to the ground. When it struck the earth blood geysered from it's massive wound for an instant. However that instant was enough to cause a small 'Eep!' sound.

Naruto turned to see a fully conscious Hinata trying to crush herself into a tree. Looking her over he found that although a good amount of blood had splashed onto her she was physically fine. That said, given what she had just accidentally witnessed her mental state was questionable.

_'Well that completely fucks up my plan! Do you think she saw the whole thing?" _Naruto internally queried.

_** 'Kit, you are standing five feet from her with blood all over your face, massive fangs, and blood red eyes. Even if she hadn't have seen the whole thing I doubt she would be unable to connect the dots. Let's face it, she knows what you aren't what you seem.' **_Kurama replied in an almost apologetic tone.

_'What should I do? I never wanted her to see this part of me.' _Naruto asked with a voice laced with fear.

_**'Kit, nothing I could possibly say would help you. My only advice would be to take it slow.' **_Kurama answered.

Hoping to calm Hinata, Naruto slowly and cautiously approached so as to not appear threatening. Unfortunately his plan backfired as her fear driven mind saw his careful approach as a hunters stalk. He stopped as her heart rate began to soar. He took a few steps back and felt kind of hurt as her heart rate slowed fractionally.

Finally she gathered the courage to speak albeit with a stutter. "A-Am I n-n-next N-Narut-to-k-kun?" The poor girl's fear was an almost palpable aura around her.

It took the young vampire a moment to understand that she was asking whether he was going to kill her next, but when he did he was almost as horrified as she was. The very thought of doing that appalled him so greatly that his fangs and eyes reverted back to their normal forms.

"Hinata-chan I wouldn't hurt you even in my worst nightmares! I could never do something like that! To even think about that possibility makes my heart ache!" Naruto cried as he fell to his knees as if begging for forgiveness.

"I c-can't b-believe you. I d-don't know who o-or w-what you are a-anym-more." she looked at him with tear filled eyes. "The Naruto I l-love would n-never d-do someth-thing like this."

Tears began to cascade from the young girls eyes as she regarded her love. "T-Tell me th-the truth. J-Just w-what are you?"

Naruto looked at her tear streaked face and desperately tried to come up with an answer that wasn't the truth. He didn't want her to know what he had become. He was deeply afraid that if she knew she wouldn't love him anymore.

His resident fox demon interrupted his internal musings to add his two cents. _**'This is not a situation you can lie your way out of. You have to tell her the truth or you are guaranteed to lose her.'**_

_'But what if she stops loving me? I don't think I could deal with that!' Naruto mentally cried out with a fear strained voice._

_**'If that happens then you just keep right on loving her. If not loving you makes her happy, then you should let her be happy, no matter how much it pains you. that is your duty as a lover, do all you can to make your love happy.' **_The fox said sagely.

_'Are you sure this is the best idea?'_

_** 'This is the only way she might stay by your side. Now buck up and go for it!'**_

Gathering his courage Naruto finally answered. "This really is me Hinata-chan. I'm just not the same person I was before I left."

Hinata sensed that he wasn't telling the whole truth. "Naruto, was Mizuki telling the truth? Are you really a d-d-demon?"

The silver haired youth took a deep breath and slowly released it to calm himself before answering. "...Yes, he was truthful, I am not human."

Hinata's expression became one of grief at his words.

"But I am not the Kyuubi, that part was a lie." Naruto finished with a confident tone.

A tiny spark of hope reappeared in Hinata's eyes. "T-Then what a-are you?"

He took another calming breath. "Hinata-chan, I'm... I'm a vampire."

She nodded once with understanding before promptly fainting.

"Shit! Now what do I do!?" Naruto roared.

_**'Take her to the castle! At least she'll be safe there until she wakes back up!" Kurama roared just as loudly**_

_'Yeah I'm sure dad would just love to have me bring my girlfriend over to a castle that isn't supposed to exist and is full of vampires!' Naruto said with heavy sarcasm._

_**'Unless you have a better idea pick up your lover and move your undead ass!'**_

"I still think this is a horrible idea!"Naruto mumbled as he picked up Hinata bridal style and started towards the castle.

* * *

Meanwhile: Deep in the Underworld...

In the underworld there were thousands if not millions of caves spread out through it's many mountain chains, cliffs, and pretty much anywhere else there was enough space for one to form. Most were nothing special, rarely more than dark dank holes in the ground. It was to one of these unassuming mountain holes that a black cloaked figure arrived at.

The figure was completely covered by their cloak, not a single distinquishing feature could be seen. A large heavy cowl was drawn up around their head hiding their face in shadows. Black leather gloves could be seen upon their hands as the figure reached out and traced a strange shape on the cavern wall. When the had finished a glowing blue glyph appeared for a moment before fading away once more. Once the glyph vanished entirely a section of the rock shimmered like an early morning mist. The figure confidently strode through the mist and into a previously hidden part of the cavern.

The hidden passageway led the figure deep down into the mountainside before ending at a plain wooden door. Taking a moment to prepare itself the figure opened the door and walked in like they owned the place. Inside five similarly cloaked figures sat around a large table.

The one at the head of the table spoke with a velvety soft voice. "You are late."

The late figure replied with a voice that sounded raspy from disuse. "I am never late, I arrive only when I need to. No earlier, no later."

As the late one pulled up a chair and sat down a third person spoke. This particular person had a somewhat excited voice, like that of a child who had just gotten a new toy. "Really? How utterly fascinating! Do you think this to be due to instinct or is it a skill you have developed over time?"

" It is likely a skill developed to save both time and money." Commented a deep rich voice from the other end of the table.

An older voice spoke next. "Is your money all you ever think of? That seems like a total waste of time to me."

"At least I can think of things besides hiding myself from view at all times you hag." Deep voice shot back.

"Cease your babbling you pompous buffoon or I shall silence your tongue permanently." Raspy commented.

"Thank you for your intervention. His prattling was beginning to grate on my nerves." The velvet voice added.

"I could do the same to you." Raspy replied.

"How rude! I was simply offering my gratitude for your assistance!" Velvet said with a hurt tone.

"No, you were attempting to ease yourself into his good graces like the eel you are." Old voice commented with an audible smirk.

"Oh all the information I could collect here is positively giving my goosebumps! Where is my notepad?" the excited one added.

"Shut up you quack." Deep voice added.

This bickering continued on in the same vein for several minutes. The whole time one figure remained completely silent. The the silent one rose and instantly all the bickering stopped. In fact everything in the room seemed to pause for an instant leaving a deathly quiet. The figure then sat back down.

From it's hood came the calm collected voice of a woman. "If you would all cease your pointless bickering we have gathered for an important purpose."

No one said a thing.

"Thank you. Now let us get down to business. Have we gained any more support from any of the other clans?" The calm voice continued.

The old sounding one coughed into it's hand briefly before speaking. "Many of the younger members of my clan believe that we have hidden ourselves long enough. We believe it is time for us to step from the shadows and let the worlds see and fear us. However most of the older members do not yet support our cause."

The woman's cowl bobbed. "What of your Lord? Where does he stand?"

"I do not know, he keeps his own thoughts closely guarded. It is possible he may yet support us." The old one replied.

"Very well. What of you?" The woman asked nodding towards the excited one.

"Many of my clan support the cause. However few wish to be directly involved in it. Most want to simply observe the what happens. If the initial parts are successful I believe more may assist." The excited voice answered in a slightly calmer tone.

The woman nodded again and then paused for a moment to collect her thoughts. "What of the other clans? Where do they stand, are they with us or against us?"

Velvet spoke in response to this question. "My sources indicate that only two clans would actually stand against us, the LeSambre and the Tzimisce. The Tzimisce would never act against the kings commands, they value their so-called honor far too much for them to ever support us. The LeSambre follow the Lady Rieekan who is incredibly loyal to the king. Anything she commands her clan will do, and her loyalty will cause her, and thus her clan, to side against us."

Velvet paused for a moment as if unsure of his next words. "While these two are sure to resist there are several others whose thoughts and actions are still unknown. I do not yet know where they will stand when the time comes. That said I feel confident in saying that most of the clans will do nothing, they will simply watch and wait for the outcome."

"Then we must proceed cautiously. We must not allow anyone not in this circle to discover what we plot. Until we know how all of the other clans will react we must make our moves silently." The woman said with authority.

"Why take a chance when we are so close? Would it not be simpler to simply eliminate those who might stand against us?" Raspy suggested.

Old voice responded in a decidedly weary tone. "Yes that may be easier, however, we do not know whether their successors would be any more or less supportive of us than the current leaders."

"Also if the other Lords and Ladies begin dropping like flies someone is bound to get suspicious. Those suspicions may lead them to uncover our plans, we cannot risk that happening." Deep voice added.

"We must continue on as we have for the last many years. Act and speak in silence and the plan shall progress." Velvet concluded with satisfaction as if he was revealing some grand idea.

"Moving on. Does anyone know the current whereabouts of the King and his family?" The woman asked imperiously.

The room went dead silent once more.

"Nothing? No one has any information on where he has disappeared to?" The woman said with incredulity.

Still no one answered.

"You are all incompetent fools! Our King is hardly one who travels quietly, and yet none of your vast and far reaching spy networks have found anything!" The woman's voice became a shriek as she screamed at the others around the table.

"My Lady..." Ventured the velvet voiced one. Instantly the woman's cowl snapped around to present the opening to the speaker who gulped and continued on nervously. "My network does not know his location. However we do have a good idea of where he has gone based on some research we did into the identity of his new heir."

"And? What did you find?"

Velvet gulped again before answering. "I believe the boy was from a group of islands know as the elemental nations. It exists in one of the far realms and is difficult but not impossible to reach. However due to the nature of the humans that live there it is very difficult to place spies."

Raspy spoke up with pride. "I have several contacts among that worlds shinobi, their warriors. I have used them before for various missions and techniques. I will speak to them and see what I can discover. However, it may be some time before our search bears fruit."

"Make sure you impress upon your contacts that this information must be found as vast as possible. We must know that he is in no position to interfere when we make our move. The woman said as she slowly returned to her seat. "Now, is there anything else that I should know about?"

The figures all shook their heads in the negative.

"Good." She rose from her seat once more as did the others. "We shall meet again in one month at the third location."

The figures all nodded in unison. They then bowed to the woman and the began to leave through the wooden door. Once the last one had left the woman turned and touched part of the wall igniting another glyph and opening another hidden passageway. After a few furtive glances around the room she vanished into the tunnel which sealed itself behind her.

The room was silent and empty for a few moments before the shadows of one wall seemed to crack and then shatter revealing two previously hidden figures. One with emerald green eyes and one with sapphire blue.

"What do you think she is up to this time Mikhael?" Asked the green-eyed one.

"Vladimir, I haven't the foggiest idea as to what goes on in that womans mind. I never have. However I would be willing to bet that she means to gain more power for herself, just as she always does." Mikhael Caal replied with annoyance.

"At least she is predictable in that." Vladimir Caal chuckled. "But what of the others who were with her? She has never been one for letting others in on her designs. That's just not her way."

"It could just be some new power play in the council." Mikhael pointed out.

"True. But I still don't like this. We should inform the king of this." Vladimir said with a determined air.

"Tell him about what? That our sire is plotting something but we have no idea what it is? That won't help anyone!" Mikhael snapped back.

"Alright what's your great idea?" Vladimir asked sarcastically.

"We watch and wait until we have a better understanding of what is going on. Then we report our findings to him." Mikhael said in an almost commanding voice.

"Fine. I just hope she doesn't cause to much trouble." Vladimir grumbled as the two slowly snuck out of the room.

It would be some time before Vladimir would discover just what his sire was planning. When he did, he would curse his earlier naivete.

* * *

**Dun-Dun-DUUUUUUUNNNNN!  
**

**What is Lady Aryah planning?**

** How will Hinata react to the truth about Naruto?**

**Where do I get my strange foods?**

**All of these questions and more may be answered in the next chapter!**

**In the meantime though, Read and Review! Please!?**


	8. Chapter 8

**ALL PRAISES TO THE MIGHTY HELLKING UZUMAKI FOR HE HAS RETURNED BEARING A NEW CHAPTER!**

**That's right I finally have my life together. In all truth this chapter took me f***ing forever to write! As it turns out I am a great action and comedy writer but romance is not my strong suite.**

**Granted this chapter is a little short, but I figured you guys wanted something to keep you interested, so here you go.**

**Review Replies!**

**RandonWrite21: I don't know about an _all out_ fight...**

**Krazyfanfiction1: Theoretically yes, he could do that, but it would take _a lot_ of concentration. Also Hinata isn't that violent...yet.**

**MidnightHunter563: I thank you for your support in my ongoing conflict between writing and life.**

**Lunarwolf150: An undead dragon? Really? You've been playing to much Warcraft III my friend.**

**T51b Moridin: He has his reasons, misguided as they may be.**

**Silvermane1: Haku=yes, Zabuza= still not sure.**

**Slythian: Does this answer your question?**

**Master Xehanort: Not yet... but soon.**

**Kyuuna Zaraki: It happens to those who are in college with disturbing regularity.**

**kingrobert84: Right now obviously.**

**ravik123123: YES! Someone who understands the true power of bacon! BACON FOR THE EPICNESS! **

**Enough of that... It's story time!**

**Please enjoy the product of my chocolate milkshake and Poptart induced hallucinations!**

**Disclaimer: I spent my inheritance on a Hacker, but he failed. I now own less than nothing.**

* * *

Chapter 8: The truth of the Monster

8:29 pm – Castle Poenari

Hinata Hyuuga was no stranger to waking up without any idea of where she was. To some this might seem a bit odd. However Hinata had always had a small problem with fainting at rather inopportune times. When this happened it was not unusual for someone to carry the young heiress to the nearest comfortable place. This of course would cause her to think she was going to awaken where she fell and yet she would rarely ever find herself where she expected to be. Thus, she was used to not knowing precisely where she was.

That said she was absolutely certain she had never awoken staring at what appeared to be the ceiling of a cave. Above her was only unyielding black stone. She rotated her head to look to her sides and found only more stone. Deciding that this was nowhere she had ever been before she quickly sat up and looked around.

The room she was in was a rather austere looking bedroom. The only furniture she could see was the plush queen sized bed she was laying upon, a small bookcase with a lamp on top of it, and a simple chair next to her bed. There were no windows and only one rather sturdy looking wooden door directly opposite her bed.

She began to breathe heavily and her heart sped up as she became more and more afraid. To her this seemed like a horrible nightmare come to life. She had no idea where she was at all, there was only one way in or out of the room and her last conscious memory was of the academy instructor Mizuki attacking her. Were she not a shinobi she probably would have had a panic attack right then and there. But she was a shinobi, and a Hyuuga shinobi at that. There was no way this was how it was going to end for her.

Quickly and quietly she snuck from the bed to the door. Thankfully whoever had her had left her in her full outfit when they placed her on the bed. She was rather thankful for this small mercy as the idea of running about in the nude did not appeal to her in the least.

Shaking her head vigorously she concentrated and slowly eased the door open and looked into the hallway. Upon first glance she didn't see anyone but in a world of shinobi that didn't mean a whole lot. Focusing her chakra into her eyes she activated her Byakugan just to be sure there was no one using a jutsu to remain hidden. Through the Byakugan she saw something rather terrifying, an empty hall.

Normally this would mean that she saw no one with the Byakugan active. However this time she could only see the hallway, nothing else. for most this would be normal but she was a Hyuuga! For some reason her clans vaunted all-seeing eye could not see past the walls! Something was preventing her from doing so leaving her Byakugan as useful as her normal eyes.

Reigning in her fear with an audible gulp she eased her way into the hall before letting the door softly close behind her. Then she slowly worked her way down the hall making sure to be as quiet as she physically could. After a few minutes of sneaking about and the hall began to lighten. At the end of the hall she stepped into a far larger hall the size of which she had never seen before, if she had to guess she would say that two or three thousand could have stood within with plenty of room to spare.

As she stood gaping at the majestic room she heard the faint sound of cloth sliding across the floor. She quickly shot behind one of the large columns that surrounded the room. Peeking around her shield she saw someone striding right towards her hiding place. Whoever it was they were wearing heavy body armor and had wild looking long black hair.

Fearing that she might be discovered Hinata looked around desperately for a new place to hide. She didn't know why but her instincts were all but screaming that the man was incredibly dangerous. Sadly due to the direction the man was walking Hinata had nowhere to run. All she could do was try and keep the pillar between herself and the man and pray he didn't notice her.

The poor heiress's heart rate shot through the roof as the man's heavy footsteps drew nearer. Closer and closer the man came sending the girl's heart rate into near earth orbit. Then just as it seemed like the steps were growing fainter they stopped altogether

"I don't recall inviting anyone into my home." The man stated in a baritone rumble.

Hinata's heart stopped for a moment out of pure panic before restarting at a speed that would have tired out a rabbit. The steps began to close in on her position once more.

"I will ask this once, and only once. Who are you?" The voice asked directly into her ear.

The young kunoichi began to shake uncontrollably as she turned to face the man. When she did she found him standing not two feet away staring at her with eyes that glowed like molten magma. Her lips began to move as she tried to reply but she felt no air pass them. A small part of her mind that was somehow not paralyzed by fear realized that she was actually terrified beyond the capability for rational thought. Or in other words she was scared out of her mind.

"Will you not freely give me your name?" The man asked. "If you will not tell me then I will be forced to rip the knowledge from you."

With that said the man's mouth opened to cavernous proportions revealing row upon row of vicious looking fangs. One hand grabbed the back of her head and forced it to the side revealing the flawless pale skin of her throat. The man slowly inched in for the kill as Hinata prayed that Naruto would be alright, as it seemed like she was about to die.

Miraculously just as the man's fangs touched her skin there was a blur of black and silver as she felt wind rush past her face. Turning to see what was happening she found herself staring at Naruto whose face was less than three inches away from her own. Desperately trying to hide her blush she watched wide eyed as the dark armored man turned once more towards her.

"What are you doing Naruto? Why did you interrupt me?" The man said with just a hint of a growl.

"He's protecting his heart of course." Seras said as she stepped into view from within the pillars shadow. "You were less than five seconds from killing your son's love. So now he is protecting her."

"So this is the young woman called Hinata?" The man asked.

Said young woman felt Naruto's head nod.

"What is she doing here? And why wasn't I informed that she was here in the first place?" The man inquired with a far calmer tone than he had previously been using.

"Naruto, take Hinata back to her room while I explain the situation to your father. I believe you two have much to discuss yourselves." Seras commanded in a motherly tone.

Naruto's eyes were shadowed as he nodded and began carrying Hinata back to her room.

The walk only took about a minute but it was the most uncomfortable minute either one of them had ever experienced. It wasn't the company that made it so, they were always happier together than apart, rather it was the silence.

Even as she lay comfortably in Naruto's arms Hinata could not bring herself to ask her love any of the questions burning deep in her heart. She was deathly afraid of the answers.

Naruto was no better. There was so much he wanted to say, he wanted to explain just who and what he was. The fear of her ceasing to love him because of it was too much for him to handle though. She was his heart, he couldn't lose her, but he also knew that lying to her was guaranteed to drive her away.

When they arrived back in Hinata's room Naruto softly laid her upon the bed before sitting in the chair at the bedside. For a minute or two neither said anything. They simply sat in their respective places and tried to avoid eye contact.

As usual it was Naruto who spoke first. "I'm sorry about that Hinata. That shouldn't have happened."

Hinata looked up at him with watery eyes. "What shouldn't have happened?"

"You know the whole 'guy interrogating and threatening you' thing." The silver haired youth replied. "I should have told him you were here as soon as I stepped through the door, but I didn't. Because of that you were almost hurt!"

"You made a mistake, I can't fault you for that." She replied softly. "Nothing came of it, so no harm done." She paused for a few moments to collect herself before plunging into her fear headfirst. "Naruto-kun?"

"Yes Hinata-chan?"

"Earlier when you said that you are a v-v-vampire w-were you t-telling the t-truth?" As she forced the words out tears began to leak from her eyes and her whole body began to shake.

For the first time in his relatively short existence Naruto felt truly ashamed of himself. The person he loved more than anything in the world was two feet in front of him crying her heart out and he couldn't even bring himself to answer her question.

After a moment or two Naruto finally answered but still did not raise his head. He didn't want to see her reaction.

"Yes, I am a vampire."

Hinata continued to cry as she continued to pour out her questions. "B-but vamp-pires aren't-t real. T-they're j-just-t st-tories mad-de to f-frighten peop-ple."

Looking up from behind the curtain of bangs Naruto replied. "We are very real Hinata-chan, and most of them aren't just stories, most of them are real stories about things that really happened."

Silence reigned in the small room once more. As each second passed Naruto became more and more disheartened. With each moment she didn't respond he felt surer that she was terrified of him, that she no longer loved him.

'_I guess it was never meant to be.'_

'_**For all it's worth, I'm sorry kit. But we both knew from the beginning that this was a possibility. It's just the ways these things go I suppose.' **_Kurama said with a voice full of pity.

'_Thank you, it means a lot. I think I'll just do as you suggested earlier. I will let her go without a struggle. Even if she doesn't love me I will always love her, and I can live with that.'_

'_**That's really all anyone can ever do for love. Love someone and pray they return it.'**_

The silence continued for almost another full minute. This time though it was Hinata who broke the silence as she took a deep breathe steadying herself to speak. Inwardly Naruto readied himself to have his world come crashing down around him.

"How did it happen?"

Naruto's head shot up in surprise. His Blue eyes immediately latched onto her tear reddened ones. Within those lavender orbs he saw no hate, no fear, no rage, nothing he fully expected to face. Instead all he saw was love, sadness, and an amount of curiosity.

"W-what?" The prince managed to stutter out.

**_'Heh, you__ stuttered.'_**

The ghost of a smile quirked Hinata's lip for a moment due to it being Naruto who stuttered and not her. She quickly erased that smile though and replaced it with a far more serious expression.

"I want to know how you became a vampire." She stated making it more of a command than a question.

Naruto was struck speechless. Never in his wildest dreams did he think that this could happen! She wasn't afraid of him! She had accepted what he had said and somehow still cared for him!

He looked at her with shining eyes full of hope and happiness. "Y-you aren't afraid of me?"

Her dark eyebrows lifted up in surprise. "Why would I be afraid of you? You're still Naruto, you're just even more different than you were before."

"B-But I …I'm…"

"…Still you at heart. If you had wanted to do something to me wouldn't you have done it already?" Hinata's tone became softer. "Even if you are a monster you still loved me enough to save me from Mizuki. No true monster would ever do such a thing. If you still love me then I still love you, and that will never change."

Naruto's eyes closed as his head fell onto her shoulder. Deep body wrenching sobs slowly emerged from his chest as he cried into Hinata's shoulder. In response she wrapped her arms around him and held on tightly, ever so slowly she rocked herself back and forth whispering to him as she did, much like how one might calm a young child.

After a minute or two the young prince had finally cried himself out. As he pulled back he smiled. This gave him a rather eerie look due to the bloody streaks running down his face from his tears. Hinata just accepted the sight and was paying more attention to what he was saying anyway.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"Naruto we love each other, it doesn't matter who, or even what we are." Hinata said with a smile.

"I'm sorry I doubted you Hinata-chan." Naruto said with a rueful smile.

Hinata giggled a Naruto's sheepish expression. "It's okay, I honestly doubted myself for a little while."

"Really? Well that makes me feel so much better about myself." The silver prince said with a goofy grin.

"You still haven't answered my question." Hinata pointed out while poking Naruto in the chest.

Naruto looked suitably embarrassed as he scratched the back of his head and a tiny tinge of pink appeared on his cheeks. "Um…heh heh. What was your question again?"

Hinata rolled her eyes but giggled. "How did you become a vampire Naruto-kun?"

"You really want to know about that?"

"It's why you left the village isn't it?"

"Well yeah it is, but…"

"But what?"

"Well, it's not exactly a pretty or a happy story."

"But it is your story." As she said this Hinata cupped Naruto's chin in her hand and pulled it around to face her. "Even if it is the most horrifying and saddest story in the world, I want to know what happened to you."

"Well if you insist, Shiroi-Hime." Naruto replied with a small yet elegant bow.

For the next hour and a half the two remained in the room. Naruto told his story and Hinata listened to it. Every so often she would interrupt for a question but otherwise she just listened to him. As for Naruto he not only told his story but he explained it, trying to let her know about how he felt about all the things that had happened and why he had chosen to do what he had.

At the end of his story Hinata leaned into his chest and hugged him tightly once more.

"You really are an amazing person Naruto-kun." She whispered.

Once more the prince scratched his head in embarrassment. "I'm glad you think so, you seem to be among the minority. Heck even your dad doesn't like me…"

A look of absolute horror dawned on Naruto's face.

"Naruto-kun? What's wrong?" Hinata asked as she grasped his arm.

His head whipped around so fast that if he weren't already technically dead he would have killed himself. "Your dad! Oh Kami! Hinata-chan we have to get you home now! If you're dad finds out that you're here after being kidnapped by Mizuki…"

"He may assume that we were the ones behind the plot in the first place." The man in armor finished as he strode into the room with Seras at his side.

"Then how do we get her back before Hiashi notices that we are involved?" Seras inquired.

"I'm fast, but even I'm not that fast." Naruto commented. "Hey dad do you think you could take her through a shadow warp with you? You could say that you were the one who caught and killed Mizuki."

Hinata was a little shocked. Naruto had mentioned that his adoptive father was a little scary, but to think that the man who had attacked her almost two hours ago was Naruto's father was still quite a shock. However that same mental shock made her come to a rather disturbing realization that everyone needed to hear before she could go home.

"Wait a moment." She said slightly more quietly than she had meant to.

Over the dull roar of the three vampires arguing none of them heard her.

She choked down her fear of the armored man and tried again.

"Excuse me?" Her voice was back at conversation levels but the vampires before her were far to ingrained in their argument to notice her.

Taking in a huge gulp of air she shouted at the immortals with all she had. "I'M TRYING TO TALK TO YOU!"

The sudden outburst of noise was too much for Naruto's sensitive ears causing him to almost faint. His parents were more experienced in tuning their hearing and so were relatively unaffected.

"I think it would be best if I were to return alone." Hinata said in a low tone.

Vladimir leveled his burning gaze upon her. "And why do you think that Miss Hyuuga?"

Hinata shivered a bit out of fear. "My father is incredibly paranoid when it comes to our bloodline, as are most of the elders. If you were to return me they would automatically assume you are after our eyes."

Naruto and Seras both looked confused, however due to his only vaguely functioning ears Seras was the one to voice said confusion.

"Why on earth would they think that? Why would we return you if we were after your abilities, it makes no sense. Are they really that paranoid?" The blond said with a puzzled expression.

"They would consider it as an attempt to work our way into their good graces. To them we would just be making friends in preparation to stab them in the back. Is my analyses correct?" Vladimir inquired.

Hinata nodded very slowly. "Most likely that is exactly how they would see it. I have to return alone or whoever is with me will be watched almost non-stop by our elders."

"I'm not letting you go back alone!" Naruto roared.

"Naruto-kun, I have to go alone." Hinata said with a small smile.

"She is correct son. When someone has fallen that deep into paranoia everything is a threat. They would begin to pry into us and we cannot afford to let them find out anything about who we truly are." Vladimir said as he lay a hand on the Hyuuga girl's shoulder. "I will take her to the gates of the village and then let her go there. She will come to no harm."

"I still don't like it." Naruto grumbled.

"Don't worry Naruto-kun. I'll see you tomorrow." Hinata said with a sweet smile.

Naruto's scowl softened into a smile. "I can't stay mad at you Hinata-chan. I guess I'll see you tomorrow then."

She nodded. "Good night Naruto-kun."

With that the shadows around her and Vladimir shot up around them both. When the darkness dispersed they were gone.

* * *

9:45 am March 31st

For once Naruto was genuinely excited as he passed through the village gates. Today was the day when he would be assigned his genin team and begin his career as a shinobi. Granted due to who and what he was he doubted he would have a particularly long career, but he was okay with that. As long as he could fulfill his promise to the old man, that was enough for him.

However as he approached the academy something began to chip away at his happiness. A nagging worry that was centered around one person, Hinata.

Deep down he still felt that he should have taken her back to her home. His father had said that nothing had happened either during the trip through the forest or once she was inside Konoha's walls. Even his father's report that nothing had happened couldn't shake Naruto's feeling of unease. He felt certain that, while nothing had happened on her way home, something bad had happened once she was home. As her boyfriend he was saddened by the fact that he couldn't have been with her when she faced her father.

"Watch where you're going dobe!" A voice hissed.

Naruto looked up to find himself face to face with Sasuke not ten feet from the academy's doors. The young prince realized that he had been so caught up in his thoughts that he hadn't been paying attention to where he was going.

Naruto smiled awkwardly although it was difficult to see under his hood. "Sorry about that Sasuke, wasn't watching my feet!"

Sasuke's scowl deepened if that was even physically possible. "Just get out of my way loser. I don't have time to deal with idiots like you." As he said this he roughly shoved Naruto to the side and entered the academy.

Naruto looked at the Uchiha's retreating form with an expression of confusion. _'He must have a really short memory. I could have sworn that yesterday I proved I was just as good as him. So how does he get to call me a loser?'_

'_**Uchiha's were never known for admitting that anyone were their equals, or for their people skills. He's just displaying**__**his clan pride, like a total douche.' **_Kurama answered.

'_Where the hell have you been!?'_ Naruto mentally yelled as he entered his class.

'_**Same place I always am, lying knee deep in nasty black water in the middle of a giant fucking sewer system!' **_The fox replied testily._** 'Where the fuck do you think I've been, Hawaii!?'**_

Suppressing the scowl that threatened to appear Naruto replied._ 'I don't know, somewhere.'_

'_**Veeeeery descriptive Kit.'**_

'_Hey, I haven't heard from you since I talked to Hinata!' _Naruto said with a slight snarl. '_Normally you would have made at least one snarky comment after what happened. It… well, it kinda freaked me out.'_

Kurama blinked a few times. _**'Is that…concern I hear in your voice? Were you worried about me?'** _The fox teased.

'_What? Me? Worried about you? You're crazy, why would I possibly worry about you? You're a fifty story tall demon fox who can crush mountains be swinging his tail the wrong way! What the hell could possibly happen that you couldn't deal with?'_

'_**Methink you doth protest too much.'**_

'_You're delusional.'_

'_**I'll take that as a compliment.'**_

Rolling his eyes the teen tuned his resident demon out and returned his focus to the real world. A minute or two later Hinata arrived, however instead of making him happy seeing her made his blood boil. Upon her cheek she bore a disturbingly hand shaped bruise and judging by the coloration she had received it late the previous night.

'_Hiashi slapped her! That mother fucking bastard hit her!' _Naruto mentally screamed.

'_**Kit, this is neither the time nor the place for this.'**_ Kurama chided. _**'You can get pissed at Hiashi all you want later. Right now you should be worried about her and making sure she's alright.'**_

"Good morning Naruto-kun." Hinata said quietly as she slid into the seat next to him.

"Hinata-chan are you alright? That looks like it hurts, do you need something for it?" Naruto replied with pleading eyes.

As shamed expression appeared as her hand reached up and gently touched the bruise. As she turned to Naruto her face softened and a sad smile appeared. "Thank you Naruto-kun, but I'll be okay, it doesn't hurt much."

"Are you sure?"

Her said smile remained. "I'm sure."

"Well, if you say you're alright then I guess you're alright." Naruto sighed somewhat overdramatically.

A real smile appeared of Hinata's face as a small giggle escaped her lips.

The two lovers happy little moment was soon shattered as Iruka entered the classroom like he normally did. As loudly as possible.

"SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP!" The chunin yelled using his big-head genjutsu to make himself seem even louder and more imposing.

Those students who weren't already in their seats began a mad scramble to reach them. Once there their heads snapped forwards to listen to their sensei, though this was a reaction more born from fear than from respect.

The chunin surveyed the room before nodding his head once decisively, obviously pleased by what he saw. "Good morning class and congratulations on becoming genin. Now as you all know shinobi of Konoha never work alone like those of some of the other villages. So each one of you will be placed on a team with two of your fellow genin and a jonin who will oversee your training from now on."

He looked around the room just in case there were any questions before continuing. "Now here are this year's team assignments. Team 3: Yosaku Monakasu, Madare Minmoi…"

Naruto tuned out as Iruka continue to list off who would be on what team.

"Team 7 under Kakashi Hatake will be: Sasuke Uchiha –"

Hearing the "Last Uchiha"'s name Naruto tuned back in, if only to find out which poor soul would have to deal with his royal emo-ness.

"-Sakura Haruno-"

'_I take that back, that's one person who will enjoy who will enjoy his emoness.'_

"- and Naruto Tepes."

'_Man I feel sorry for that poor slob, where is he!' _Looking back and forth around the room trying to find Sasuke's second teammate.

'_**Um…Kit?'**_

'_Not now Kurama! I wanna see this guy's face!'_

'_**Go look in a mirror.'**_

'_Why? The only person I would see in the mirror is…me…DAMNIT!'_

'_**You are truly an idiot of the highest caliber. Congratulations.'**_

Naruto slammed his head into his desk with enough force that it actually cracked a little. _'The universe hates me, doesn't it?'_

'_**It could be worse.'**_Kurama commented.

'_Oh reaaaally? How exactly could it be worse?'_

'_**You could have gotten placed with that dude with the weird eyebrows we saw this morning.'**_

Naruto involuntarily shuddered.

"Alright class you have one hour for lunch. After that your senseis will arrive to pick you up. It's been a good four years, now get out that and make me proud!" Iruka exclaimed as the class got up and filed out for lunch. As Naruto walked by the chunin snagged his sleeve.

"I was told to give you this." The chunin explained as he handed Naruto a cloth wrapped object.

Naruto tilted his head to the side in confusion. As he unwrapped it though a smile replaced his confused expression. It was a new Hitai-Ate, more specifically his new Hitai-Ate. Just as the old man had promised his was unlike any that he had ever seen.

Unlike most Konoha bands which simply bore the sign of the leaf his simply had the kanji for fire, much like the hat of the Hokage. He had been told that this showed that his loyalty was not to the village but to the fire-shadow himself.

* * *

Naruto and Hinata made their way outside back to the tree outside that was quickly becoming their 'place'. As usual one of Naruto's bodyguards was lounging around nearby. This time it happened to be Chris who was laying on one of the lower branches apparently taking a nap.

"Chris. Hey Chris gimme my lunch!" Naruto demanded.

One of Chris's eyes peeked open just a tiny bit before slowly closing. "No, go away, it's too early." The weapon maker groaned.

Hinata giggled lightly at the two vampire's antics as she sat down and opened her Bento box.

"Come on Chris I'm thirsty, and I really don't want to walk around town asking people if I can suck their blood. That conversation is one I want to avoid." Naruto commented.

Chris rolled over and pulled out a cigarette. "Your blood is in the paper bag at the base of the tree. I figured that you would want it warm, now shut up and let me sleep."

"If you had started by saying that I wouldn't have woke you up." Naruto commented and he opened the small paper bag that contained the day's blood ration.

Hinata had never seen Naruto actually drink blood before, unless you count what she saw with Mizuki. So she was somewhat expecting him to pull hospital style blood bags out. Instead what he had was three brown glass soda bottles.

Naruto popped one open lifted to his lips and drained the twenty ounce bottle in less than ten seconds. He then sat down next to Hinata with a satisfied sigh.

"You know it's rude to have multiple drinks and not offer to share them Naruto-kun." Hinata mock pouted.

Luckily or unluckily, depending on your point of view, Naruto had just started on his second bottle when she said this. He choked on his sanguine drink and then had a rather nasty coughing fit. This also had the effect of causing blood to go flying everywhere.

When Naruto turned to stare at his girlfriend with wide eyes she could barely contain her laughter. Apparently when he had coughed some of the blood had gone up his nose and was now trickling from his nostrils. It made him look like he had just had the worst nosebleed of all time. Considering the fact that men around the village seemed to get nosebleeds all the time from seeing sexy things she thought it rather entertaining, especially since he was looking at her.

"You weren't serious…right?' Naruto asked hesitantly. "I'm pretty sure it would taste pretty nasty to you."

Hinata stifled her giggles before replying. "Of course I was. Though I am somewhat curious as to what it tastes like to you."

Naruto cocked his head to the side. "Why?"

"I want to know more about you Naruto-kun. Besides it's really like I'm asking you what your favorite food tastes like." Hinata replied with a shrug.

"Putting it that way does make it sound a whole lot less creepy." Naruto replied. He then sat and thought for a moment. "Really it's hard to describe. It's like, drinking a smoothie made out of all of your favorite foods all perfectly blended together. But it tastes like something different to everyone, for me it happens to taste a lot like Miso Ramen."

Hinata couldn't help but laugh. Only Naruto could possibly think that blood tastes like ramen. It was just so…him.

"Tastes like my grandmother's homemade pot roast to me." Chris commented from his perch in the tree.

Naruto looked up at his bodyguard as he slowly sipped on the third bottle. "That's just weird."

Chris turned his head just enough to glare down at his blonde charge. "Hey it at least tastes like some kind of meat. How can blood possibly taste like noodles?"

Naruto somehow managed to scoff even as he finished the last of his bottle. "Ramen is the food of the gods, everything can and should taste like ramen if prepared correctly." He stated as if reading from scripture.

"Not this crap again. Ramen is not the food of the gods! It's just noodles in broth with a bit of extra flavoring thrown in!" Chris declared as he sat up.

"Blasphemy! You dare to insult the Ramen? Heathen!"

"It's not blasphemy you moron! It's not even Holy!"

"Halt thy tongue before you corrupt my purity!"

"You're a vampire! You have no purity!"

"Ramen purged me of my darkness long ago!"

The two vampires continued to argue about the merits and flaws of Ramen until the lunch hour was over. The only one who left with a smile was Hinata who had been dying of laughter for almost the whole time.

* * *

Once back inside the academy the two lovers parted ways as Hinata went with her teammates and sensei. Leaving Naruto behind to wait for his sensei. So he waited, and waited, and waited some more, at one point he debated going outside to find a slug. If only to see if the thing could make it across the room before their sensei arrived.

Of course neither one of his teammates were really helping his patience. Sakura was talking almost non-stop to Sasuke. Apparently she was somehow oblivious of the earplugs he had placed in his ears just after lunch. Because of this Naruto was the only one who had to deal with listening to the pink haired kunoichi babble on and on about absolutely nothing.

Eventually the blonde prince tried something he had seen his father do many times when the ancient vampire was bored. He found the largest chair in the room (which happened to be Iruka's), dragged it up the steps to the very back over the room, and then collapsed into it. Slouching in the oversized chair gave the blonde such a sense of peace, sort of anyway. Really all it did was somehow make him sleepy. After a good long while the blonde succumbed to the death sleep his race was famous for.

* * *

This was the condition their Jonin-sensei found them in when he finally arrived three hours late. Sakura was still ceaselessly jabbering to her 'precious Uchiha', who was completely and totally ignoring her while staring at the chalkboard. While Naruto was sleeping silently in the chair at the back of the room.

The jonin would have face-palmed if it weren't for the fact that the act would ruin his image. So he cleared his throat loudly to get their attention.

Hearing the cough Naruto pulled himself back to reality just in time for Sakura to scream 'You're Late!' at the jonin as loud as she physically could. Of course Naruto paid her no attention at all and instead took the opportunity to memorize the appearance of his new sensei.

His clothes were the basic garb of a Konoha jonin, dark blue pants and shirt, a green flak jacket and armored fingerless gloves. However as nondescript as his outfit made him look the man would still be hard to miss in a crowd due to his long silver hair which seemed to stand almost straight up. He also wore a black face mask that his everything below his eyes while his Hitai-Ate was pulled down over his left eye, giving him a somewhat lopsided appearance.

"My first impression, I hate you all. Especially the one lounging in the back." The jonin announced in a bored tone. "Meet me on the roof in five minutes if you ever want to be ninja."

He then raised one hand in a sign and disappeared in a swirl of leaves. Not five seconds later Sasuke and Sakura raced through the door.

Naruto sighed and shook his head as he stood up and walked to one of the windows. He opened it, slipped outside and jumped up all five floors to the roof.

Upon landing he found that the jonin was sitting on a bench staring at him rather intently. To be honest it was a little creepy but the silver-haired prince had dealt with worse. He mentally shrugged off the cycloptic stare and took a seat on one of the other benches to wait with his new sensei.

* * *

If it weren't for the fact that Kakashi was a seasoned jonin who had survived a full scale shinobi war and countless nearly impossible missions, he would have counted the task before him as a completely impossible mission. But he had never failed to complete an assignment before and he wasn't about to start now.

His assignment? To train three fresh-faced genin into the next generation of the Densetsu no Sannin. Right… He figured facing Hanzo the Salamander in one on one combat would be easier.

The minute he had entered the classroom and seen his new students he mentally reviewed all that he knew of them.

First of all there was Sasuke Uchiha, the last loyal Uchiha in all of Konoha and one of two Rookies of the Year. As an Uchiha the boy had incredible skills for a genin and had received astounding marks all the way through the academy. However due to the slaughter of his clan at the hands of his older brother Sasuke was known to be somewhat mentally unstable. Of course the way that the civilian council fawned over the boy was no help in that regard.

Then there was Sakura Haruno, daughter of the civilian council member Mebuki Haruno. The pink haired girl's grades through the academy were amazing to be sure, but grades alone didn't mean a whole lot of anything. In truth out of all the kunoichi hopefuls in her class Sakura had the worst physical skills. Her chakra reserves were sub-standard, her strength and stamina nonexistent, the only thing she did have was astounding control over what little chakra she did have.

Last but not least there was Naruto Tepes, heir to the newest clan of Konoha. And if his theories were correct, a vampire. Beyond that the jonin only had the test scored Iruka had supplied which indicated skills equal to or greater than the Uchiha's. Kakashi wasn't entirely sure what he was going to do with the ex-blonde, but he was sure that he could figure something out, eventually. Maybe.

Right now though he was staring at the source of his worries as Sasuke and Sakura finally reached the roof and sat on their own benches. _'Well, let's get this show on the road.'_

* * *

The three genin stared at the cycloptic jonin, who stared right back at them. It was rather awkward, but since they really didn't know what else to do they just sat there and waited.

After a moment or two the jonin sighed and finally spoke. "Well, since we've just met let's start by introducing ourselves."

"What do you want to know about us?" Sakura asked rather sheepishly.

The jonin shrugged as he replied. "How about your name, likes, dislikes, dreams for the future, stuff like that."

"How about you go first so we can see how it's done?" Naruto asked.

"Huh? Me? Well…my name is Kakashi Hatake. I don't see why I should tell you my likes or dislikes. My dreams for the future? Hmmm… Anyway, I have lots of hobbies.'

'_Well now I know his name. That's a start, I guess.' _Naruto thought

'_**And he's a lazy bum, which should also be noted.'**_ Kurama added.

"Alright, enough about me. Your turn, let's start with you pinky." The jonin sighed as he pointed at Sakura.

A small blush formed on the girl's face as she started. "My name is Sakura Haruno. The thing I like is… Well the person I like… I hate Ino Yamanaka. And um, my dream for the future is…(Fan-girl squeal). My hobby is flower pressing."

Kakashi stared at her. _'One fan-girl with an extra dose of useless, check.'_

"Now you short, dark and silent." He announced pointing to Sasuke.

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I hate almost everything so I like almost nothing. I have no dreams or hobbies, but I do have an ambition to kill a certain man." The avenger said with a dark tone.

'_**Oooo, Scary.'**_ The fox sarcastically commented.

'_One avenger with a slight god-complex, double check.' _Kakashi mentally sighed.

"Now you sleepy-head."

Naruto rolled his eyes at the nickname. "My name is Naruto Tepes. I like my family and my girlfriend, I dislike anyone who dislikes me. My dream is to fulfill my promise to the Hokage. I guess my main hobby is training."

Kakashi blinked. _'And to top it all off, one vampire with a sense of honor, triple-check. I am so far beyond screwed.'_ He blinked again. Alright then, meet me at training ground seven tomorrow morning at eight o'clock tomorrow for your first team activity. Oh, and don't bother eating breakfast tomorrow, I hate cleaning up after people throw it all back up. Dismissed." The jonin shunshined away once more.

'_Well this is going to be… interesting.'_ Naruto thought as he made his way home.

* * *

**What is Kakashi's test? (Don't answer that!)**

**How do Naruto's skills match up with Kakashi's?**

**Why does life keep getting in the way of stuff I want to do?**

**All of these questions and more will probably be answered in the next chapter!**

**Until then...Read, Review, Rage, Throw babies! (Don't do the last one.)**

**A/N: I'm running out of ideas for my tag lines. You know the food/drink induced hallucination one? Yeah so if you have a weird food and drink combo and you want to see it on one of my stories, put it in your review! NO PM's!**

**A/N 2: I also have a Youtube channel in case you want to know what I sound like. Just search Psycho's Anonymous. There aren't many videos but I'm working on it!**


	9. Chapter 9

**THE KING IS BACK!**

**Hey everybody sorry for the delay. However I had a death in the family at the beginning of December and it's taken me a while to feel back to normal. So I do apologize, but I just couldn't bring my self to write.**

**The important thing though is that I'm back.**

**Review Replies!**

**Dage: That's not as much fun to hate on.**

**Silvermane1: Haku yes, Zabuza I'm still debating.**

**The Lazy Bastard: Thanks for the support and understanding.**

**MidnightHunter563: I can't kill him I have to many plans for him!**

**Krazyfanfiction1: All Kakashi lost was Minato.**

**bloodshound: Or he might do it for his own amusement.**

**Joe Lawyer: Thank you for your input. Vampiric culture is very similar to medieval, only in politics and combat does it differ significantly from that of the ninjas. Also 'lover' was simply because I was running out of words to refer to Hinata.**

**SPark681: Close but not quite.**

**Qzh: This chapter should make you feel better then.**

**Did it: Um... I don't know how to respond.**

**Phoenixblade: It won't be an accident.**

**Enough of that! Time for a fight!**

**Please enjoy the product of my Ramen and Grape Soda induced hallucinations!**

**Disclaimer: Turns out I'm a better writer than a thief, I now own one half of a jail cell.**

* * *

April 1st 7:00 AM

Were Naruto a normal child he would have leapt from his bed, run down to the kitchen, scarfed breakfast, bid a hasty farewell to his parents and raced out the door. That is what Naruto _would_ have done, if he were a _normal_ child. Being anything but normal Naruto's morning was a little different.

As it was he slowly opened his coffin and pulled himself up and out of it with a somewhat loud grunt of exertion. He clothed himself in his usual black, red and silver outfit, and silently made his way out of his room towards the dining room. In truth it wasn't actually the dining room, it was just the kitchen in the living quarters. Being a somewhat large castle the various actual dining rooms and kitchens were humongous rooms designed to hold hundreds of people. Due to the fact that only a few dozen people were currently living within the stone confines only the smallest of the kitchens was used. It also doubled as the 'family' eating area.

When he arrived he found things were just as they normally were. Kenshin was curled up with his sword in one corner, while Chris sat tinkering with some new weapon on a table. Several of the guards were taking a break at another table. In the middle of all of this Seras sat bleary eyed slowly sipping from a steaming mug of A positive.

"Morning mom!" The young prince exclaimed as he hugged his mother.

A small smile appeared on her face. "Good morning Naruto."

As she hugged him back a maid hurried over with a platter carrying another steaming mug. She hurriedly placed it down before scurrying away.

Naruto took no notice of the maid's arrival or departure, his entire being became focused on the mug as soon as he saw it. Within seconds the mug was at his lips as he drunk the sanguine fluid within. He released a content sigh as he placed the now empty mug back on the table.

Seeing that he was done with his drink Seras spoke in a warm motherly tone. "Well now that you've had your meal you should be getting to your test."

Naruto nodded quickly before running to a coat rack that hung beside the door. On it hung his coat and his beloved scythe. Grabbing them and putting them on Naruto waved good bye before shooting out the door in a black streak.

Unfortunately in his haste to leave he didn't notice his father standing a few feet outside the door staring into the rising sun. The younger vampire did notice however when his nose slammed into what felt like a cement wall.

"A true vampire does not rush to where he is going Naruto." Vladimir chided without turning around.

Naruto bowed apologetically. "I'm sorry."

Neither of them said anything for a few moments.

"Do you remember all that I taught you?" The King asked with a deeper tone than usual.

"Of course I do." Naruto replied defensively.

"Then tell me the rules a vampire adheres to when in combat." Vladimir commanded somewhat harshly. "What are the rules of a duel?"

Naruto straightened up as he replied confidently. "A duel is a fight between two people, and two people only. In a duel you are to face your opponent directly, no trickery, no outside influence, only your power against that of your opponent. However if your enemy is far weaker than you lower yours so that the duel may be even until the victor becomes obvious. The point of a duel is in the combat, not the victory."

"And what of the rules for a battle?"

"A battle only occurs when your opponent has broken the rules of a duel or if there are multiple opponents. In battle anything is allowed. Your goal is the complete and utter destruction of your foe no matter what. The point of battle is in the victory not in combat."

Vladimir turned his head slightly so that Naruto could see one of his father's crimson eyes. "Good, remember those rules in your test."

"I will."

Vladimir smiled just a bit letting a few fangs appear between his lips. "Excellent. Now go, do your duty, and bring us back honor and victory."

Naruto nodded before shooting off once more towards the village. Once he was completely out of sight Seras came out to stand beside her king.

"Was all of that really necessary?" She asked in an annoyed tone. "You could have just wished him good luck like any other father would have to their son."

Vladimir looked at the blonde out of the corner of his eye. "I am not just any father and he is not just any son. He is _my_ son, _my_ heir. This is the first true chance for him to show this world his might. I simply made sure he remembered how to do it with honor."

"Sounded a lot more like you were scolding him to me." Seras replied.

"If he takes it that way that is his mistake." Vlad replied coolly. "He is caught between two worlds, I was simply reminding him of the one he came from and must return to. His fate in this world is in his hands."

Naruto arrived at the training ground, which appeared to be just a regular old forest except for the clearing he was in that had three logs sticking up from the ground, with almost a half hour to spare. Thankfully it was a rather cloudy day so he didn't have to put his hood up. The sun's rays couldn't harm him like it could for other vampires, but it annoyed and distracted him. And while he was sure of his capabilities as a warrior He was understandably nervous about his new sensei's test. He didn't even know what it was for crying out loud.

To prevent himself from becoming any more nervous than he already was he took a seat beneath a tree. Crossing his legs and clasping his hands before him he stared towards the entrance to the training area. Fifteen minutes or so into his wait the spiky silhouette of Sasuke emerged from the tree line.

Seeing Naruto sitting beneath the tree Sasuke scoffed loudly. "Taking a nap dobe?"

The silver haired teen didn't even glance at the Uchiha as he replied. "No. I'm simply watching and waiting. Like any good shinobi I feel it is important to be watching for threats at all time."

"Why bother?" the avenger snorted. "Even if you saw someone coming there's no way you could do anything about it."

Naruto's tone became sharper. "And you could?"

"I am an Uchiha, an elite. Your skills pale in comparison to my own."

"Truly? I seem to remember that according to the tests our skills are about equal."

Sasuke scowled and stalked off muttering to himself. "Obviously the tests were wrong."

Naruto rolled his eyes at his teammate's arrogance but said nothing. He returned his eyes to the entrance just in time to see a pink blob emerge.

Sakura, strangely, didn't immediately run to Sasuke like Naruto expected. In fact she seemed rather subdued and lethargic. Naruto chalked it up to the early hour. Not that he could really say anything on the matter of time.

Being a creature of the night he could almost hear his body crying out for him to go home and return to the comforting darkness of his coffin. He resisted these urges through willpower and a bit of Kurama's nearly limitless energy. It was still uncomfortable, but he had made a promise to the old man, and if this was what he needed to do to keep that promise, then he would do it with a smile. Or at least he would try to pretend to smile. Well at the very least he would do it with a straight face.

Eight o'clock came and went without any sign of their sensei. Eight thirty rolled around with a similar lack of jonins. Nine o'clock brought the sun out from behind its cloudy mask causing Naruto to draw up his hood, but there was still no sign of any jonin, their's or another.

Sadly by this point Sakura had finally fully awoken. Shortly after that her shrill voice quickly filled the small clearing as she attempted futilely to engage the Uchiha in conversation. Naruto just ignored her as best he could, unfortunately for the young prince his vampiric senses made it very hard for him to fully tune out her annoying voice.

This went on for two more hours. Naruto kept his constant vigil from his seat against the tree, Sakura continued to spout a continuous stream of drivel which everyone ignored, and the Uchiha simply leaned against one of the three logs sticking out of the ground and glared at the world.

When eleven o'clock finally rolled around Naruto was beginning to have some serious doubts. Primarily about the skill of his supposed jonin sensei. But his own sanity was also somewhat in question. He was pretty sure that at some point Sakura should have run out of things to say even if she had been going through the encyclopedia by memory, yet somehow she just kept right on talking, even when it was painfully obvious to everyone except the girl in question that the Uchiha wanted absolutely nothing to do with her.

'_For the love of Kami! Will she ever shut up?' _Naruto pleaded in his head.

'_**If we kill her she might be quiet.' **_Kurama answered in a hopeful tone.

Naruto thought about the idea for a moment or two. _'Good idea, but I don't think it would get us a whole lot. Knowing our luck she would come back just to haunt us. Then we would have to spend eternity listening to her blabber on and on.'_

The mighty fox shuddered at the imagined horror. _**'But we could get a few days of blessed silence before she comes back. In my opinion it would totally be worth it.'**_

'_But then I would be stuck with listening to the banshee when I'm with Hinata to! That would be horrible!'_

'…_**Hadn't thought of that. Well, shit. I guess we're stuck with the pink banshee for a little while longer then aren't we?'**_

'_Ya know, sometimes, I really hate my life.'_

At that moment two things happened. Firstly Sakura stopped to take a breath so she could continue to bombard Sasuke with her inane chatter. Her momentary silence caused every being within earshot to mentally cry out with joy. The other thing was that Kakashi finally arrived in a swirl of leaves.

Each of the genin had their own unique reaction to the jonin's sudden appearance. Naruto simply stared at him with the kind of cold soulless gaze that only a member of the undead could pull off. The Uchiha attempted a similar glare, however due to Kakashi's experiences in the war and his skills, the Uchiha's glare was no more threatening or disturbing than a puppy's growl. Of course Sakura simply decided to scream at the jonin for being late at the very top of her lungs.

"Am I late?" Kakashi asked casually.

The assembled genin stared at their sensei for a moment, then at each other, then back at their sensei and nodded at the same time.

"Oh, well, ya see on my way here I ran into a black cat. So of course to ward off bad luck I had to go back to my house and take the long way to get here." Kakashi explained in a happy tone.

"LIAR!" Sakura screeched.

Naruto and Sasuke both gave a cold glare. Well Naruto did, Sasuke just tried and failed.

Kakashi ignored them both and rummaged through his bag for a moment before pulling out two small silver bells and an old alarm clock. "Alright the clock is set for noon and here are the bells. Your job is to take these bells from me before the alarm goes off. Whoever can't get a bell before noon gets no lunch and will be tied to one of those posts while the rest of us eat."

'_HA! I already had my blood for the morning! I don't need to eat! SO I don't need to get one of those!'_ Naruto mentally cried.

Kakashi continued to explain his test. "Also whoever doesn't get a bell… Fails. Since there are only two bells one of you IS going to fail. Of course whoever fails will be going back to the academy for another year."

'…_I just had to open my mouth, didn't I?'_

'_**According to my theory about humans, yes you did.'**_ Kurama supplied.

'_Should I ask about this theory of yours?'_

'_**No, I haven't quite finished it yet.'**_

Being unable to hear Naruto's internal conversation Kakashi continued his explanation. "Now, unless you come at me with the full intent to kill, there is no way you will pass."

The two human genin gulped at the look in the jonin's visible eye. Naruto just grinned a bit, had his heart still beat it would have been thundering with excitement.

Kakashi looked at them all one last time. "Start!"

The genin hopefuls leapt away and disappeared into the bushes around the clearing.

Kakashi grinned beneath his mask. Said grin quickly vanished as Naruto walked back out into the clearing.

Kakashi stared at the silver haired youth for a moment. "You do realize that we shinobi are supposed to fight in the shadows, right?"

Naruto nodded.

"Then shouldn't you be hiding?" The jonin asked with a heavy dose of curiosity.

Naruto stared at the jonin for a moment before shrugging nonchalantly. "I would but in a duel that kind of tactic is not allowed."

"A duel?"

"Yes, combat between only two people. Now, shall we get this show on the road?" As he replied Naruto drew Crimson Moon and let it unfold to its full size.

Kakashi cocked his head for a moment but then just smiled and reached into his ninja pouch. Naruto's eyes narrowed as he waited for Kakashi to draw his weapon. To the prince's surprise Kakashi brought out a small orange book with a dramatic flourish.

"I somehow doubt that will protect you." Naruto deadpanned.

Kakashi didn't even glance at him. "It's not for protection, it's for entertainment. It's not like I'm going to have to take this fight seriously."

Naruto hissed and launched himself forward. Kakashi stepped to the side without even the decency to look at the flying genin.

Using the tip of his blade like an anchor Naruto pulled a one-eighty and flung himself back at the jonin's now visible back. Sadly the jonin sidestepped the attack once more only to jump over Naruto's mid-air strike. The jonin then snapped one foot into the air-born prince's midsection causing him to crash to the ground.

"Well that was certainly unimpressive." Kakashi noted with a bored tone as he turned over a page. "Might I see some of the Tepes clan's techniques, or is this going to just be a regular, boring old brawl?"

"Weeeeell, since you asked so nicely, I am forced to oblige." Naruto replied.

Kakashi nodded slightly. "I thank you for your generosity."

In the bushes nearby Sasuke and Sakura both sweat dropped at the rather civilized conversation.

Deciding to start off round two with a bang Naruto swept his scythe around behind him and squeezed the trigger. Kakashi dropped his book and leapt back in a desperate move to get out of the way only to find that Naruto had somehow reversed direction and was coming back. Being in midair the jonin was unable to dodge and so made a quick substitution with a conveniently placed log

With Kakashi now somewhere in the woods waiting to attack Naruto decided now would be a good time to up the ante. So he made a series of seals before slashing his scythe horizontally. As he did a distortion appeared, almost like a heat ripple.

"Onipou: Kazeshini." (Death Wind"

The distortion flew through the air at tremendous velocity straight towards the trees. When the ripple of air reached the first tree the tree simply fell to the ground having been cleanly cut in two. As did all the trees less than twenty feet behind it.

Naruto repeated this technique several more times in an attempt to flush his sensei out of hiding. As he released his last one though he felt a hand grip his ankle. Suddenly he found himself neck deep in the dirt.

Kakashi slowly rose from the ground in front of him. "Doton: Shinjuu Zanshuu no jutsu. I really had hoped that you wouldn't fall for such a low level technique."

"Then this should cheer you up. Onipou: Tetsu funka." (Iron eruption)

Suddenly a pillar of Iron as thick as a tree trunk shot up from the ground beneath Naruto. Said you prince the leapt down from the top to strike at Kakashi. Only this time he had fired twice making it very difficult for the silver haired jonin to fully evade. Instead of ducking or sidestepping Kakashi leapt over Naruto's strike and spun in midair to deliver a brutal axe kick which was avoided by Naruto flipping his body over the haft of his weapon. He then struck out with his magic once more.

"Onipou: Kaze Shinko!"

Contorting his body in air Kakashi was able to narrowly avoid being struck by the fist of condensed air only to have a pair of feet slam into his side as Naruto performed a Stomp kick off his buried scythe.

The jonin landed in a crouch and instuictively threw a handful of shuriken to buy himself some time. Naruto simply uprooted his scythe and spun it with his hands knocking them all away. But they served their purpose.

"Katon: Goukyakku."

Kakashi's fireball shot towards Naruto who signed as fast as he could before punching the earth before him.

"Onipou: Tetsu Shirudo!"

As the flames impacted his iron dome Naruto was trying to think of a strategy that could win him this duel. Unfortunately due to his lack of information about his opponent this was far more easily said than done. Thus he decided that he would go with the oldest strategy in the world, just wing it.

The moment the roar of flames died down he shot out of his cover like a bullet aiming for the possible safety and cover of the tree line. Seeing this Kakashi drew a kunai and threw himself towards the prince with all of his not inconsiderable speed.

Naruto spun around as he heard the hiss of displaced air. In doing so he managed to bash Kakashi in the side with the scythe's counterweight. Kakashi grabbed the haft of the scythe and spun on top of it landing a brutal kick on Naruto's jaw.

Reeling in pain and shock Naruto unconsciously gripped his scythe tighter inadvertently squeezing the trigger. Thus to his immense surprise he and his weapon went flying backward rather suddenly.

With his handhold ripped from beneath him Kakashi land on the ground much like a cat before readying another kunai and leaping once more after his would-be student. Much to his surprise however he found himself ducking beneath Naruto's massive weapon as both it and its wielder suddenly flew at him.

Internally Naruto was almost cackling with glee. He had managed to get Kakashi into the forest. No he had the advantage, with all the trees around the younger silver-haired ninja would be able to fight Kakashi much as he had Kenshin so long ago. Capitalizing on his advantage Naruto struck again and again each time using a tree or thick branch to catch himself and change direction. Of course each time he did this he would fire again slowly but surely increasing his speed until even the veteran jonin couldn't keep up. Finally after almost a minute of this Naruto finally managed to land a hit, granted he barely scratched the man's arm, but still a hit was a hit. Imagine his surprise when, at the moment of impact his enemy exploded into a cloud of smoke!

In fact he was so surprised that he failed to watch where he was going and slammed headfirst into a tree at close to twenty-eight miles an hour. As he groaned and pulled himself to his feet Kurama decided to add his two cents.

'_**Well, that was sure entertaining as hell.'**_

'…_The fuck was that? Did you do something?'_

'_**(Snort) Of course that was me… You know 'cause I can totally cause a ninja to turn into smoke from the inside of your stomach.' **_The fox replied with a mocking tone.

'_How the fuck should I know? I haven't been a vampire for very long you know. Besides you're supposed to be this all-powerful all-knowing demon lord of chaos and destruction.'_

'_**Firstly you're not a vampire, you're a fledgling and secondly WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN YOU DON'T KNOW! On a side note yes, yes I am.'**_

Naruto felt a bit woozy due to the fox's volume but replied equally loudly. '_MOST OF THE OTHERS DON'T HAVE DEMON LORDS AS FAMILIARS SO HOW SHOULD I KNOW WHAT FAMILIARS CAN AND CAN'T DO?'_

For a moment silenced reigned in Naruto's mind. But only for a moment.

'…_**Did you just actually make a logical argument? Or are we sharing a concussion? I'm really leaning more towards concussion.'**_

'_Fuck you.'_

'_**That's more like it. Well, now that that's over with…'**_

'…_Right. So… What just happened?'_

'_**You killed the Kage Bunshin of your sensei.'**_

'_I killed a what?'_

'_**It's a ninja technique that allows it's user to create a physical double of his or her body that can then go off and fight by itself.'**_

'_So I didn't just kill my sensei?'_

'_**No, in fact you haven't fought him since he used that Katon technique.'**_

'_And you failed to point this out to me because?'_

'_**I wanted to see how long it took you to figure it out.'**_

'…_I really hate you sometimes, you know that right?'_

'_**Yup. I feed on your hate, it tastes like chicken, lots of chicken…Shit, now I'm all hungry again.'**_

'_Really? You feed on hate?'_

'_**Of course not that would be way to cliché. I don't do clichés.'**_

'_Oh. I knew that.'_

'_**Sure you did.'**_

'_So… Now what?'_

'_**We play hide and go eat.'**_

A fearsome smirk adorned the fledgling's face. '_I think I might like that game.'_

On the other side of the training ground Kakashi sighed with boredom as he stood before the Uchiha heir. Said heir was growling like some sort of wild beast, which would have been somewhat off-putting had the boy not been trapped in the earth up to his neck.

The jonin sighed again as he looked at the supposed prodigy before him. "You know, for the rookie of the year, you suck."

The Uchiha glared at him with an impressive amount of rage for a genin, he even managed to put out a good amount of KI. Not enough to even remotely phase someone of Kakashi's caliber, but it was still just a smidge impressive.

Kakashi glanced down at the Uchiha again and started to speak however just as he opened his mouth his head shot up and his visible eye widened a bit.

Without another word the jonin spun on his heel and walked away completely ignoring the raven- haired genin he left behind.

As he walked towards the wooded area Naruto and his clone had run into not long ago the jonin's mind was running a mile a minute as he analyzed what his clone had experienced.

'_First, it's obvious he's more than capable of thinking on his feet and seems able to react to just about anything I throw at him, definitely not a one trick pony. Second from what I've seen he has quite the collection of techniques to counter my jutsu, not to mention I have no idea how many others he may still have in reserve. Third that weapon is very dangerous and he seems to wield it like a master, almost as an extension of himself. Coupled with his speed going in close is likely a bad idea.'_ The Cyclops mused as he entered the woods. _'So the question is, how to bring him down? I can't get too serious as I don't know exactly how much punishment he can take, but at the same time I can't hold too much back or he might actually injure me.'_

The jonin continued his musing for a few more moments until Naruto's voice called out to him.

"Watcha doin' sensei?" Naruto asked playfully as his voice seemed to echo through the close packed trees.

Kakashi kept up his façade of nonchalance as his replied. "Not much, just thinking."

"About what?" Naruto asked teasingly.

"Well, honestly I haven't made up my mind as to whether or not I like the pairing in the newest Icha Icha book." Kakashi answered with an exasperated sigh.

"I really don't think you should be worrying about your book sensei. Don't you have more pressing problems?" The hidden genin asked with a touch of humor.

"Not that I can think of. What do you think I should be worried about?" As Kakashi replied he felt a spike of energy from directly behind him. It wasn't chakra it felt to dark and heavy to be the energy of life but it was there.

Thus when Naruto came rocketing out of the underbrush with a roar of "ME!" Kakashi back flipped over the attacking teen and put a snap kink into the boys back. The jonin tensed himself just in case Naruto began to use the trees as he had earlier. So when he found himself duck over a swinging scythe he was a bit surprised.

However as the surprise wore off so too did Naruto's advantage. Crimson Moon was a deadly weapon to be sure and in Naruto's skilled hands it could be downright terrifying. With its long reach and great weight the scythe could do unbelievable amounts of damage to anyone who was hit. However of the two combatants Kakashi was far more experienced.

Slowly but surely Naruto felt the control of the fight slip out of his hands. Kakashi was slowly driving him back with a pair of kunai. He did all he could but during the day Kakashi was faster and stronger. Not to mention that Kakashi was constantly abled to weave through the scythe's deadly arcs. After almost a full minute of fierce combat Kakashi finally broke into the young prince's guard and and with one sure movement brought both kunai to either side of the genins neck.

"Well…" Kakashi stated with a bored tone." I do believe I win this little 'duel' of ours."

Naruto growled deep in his throat but said nothing vocally. Instead he turned inward seeking advice.

'_Kurama? Any ideas?'_

'_**Yup, I got one.'**_

'…'

'…'

'_Well, what's your idea?'_

'_**Oh, so you wanted to know what my idea was! Why didn't you say so?**_

'_I did say so you furry pain in the ass!'_

'_**No, you just asked me if I had an idea. Which I do. You said nothing about telling you what the idea was.'**_

'_Now is not the time for this shit! Just tell me your idea already!'_

'_**I should groom my tails, they're looking rather ratty.'**_

'…'

'…'

'_THAT DOESN"T HELP ME AT ALL!'_

'_**I feel I should point out you never asked if I had a useful or helpful idea. Only if I had an idea.'**_

'…_I want to kill you so much right now.'_

'_**The feelings mutual. Now if you don't mind I have tails to groom and you have a jonin to deal with.'**_

With that said Naruto found himself once more face to face with Kakashi's completely emotionless face. At least it looked emotionless the mask made it rather hard to tell.

Kakashi brought the knives just a little closer to Naruto's throat. "Well? Do you submit, or am I going to have to go looking for your head in a minute?"

"I'm pretty sure most teachers don't threaten to kill their students." Naruto replied with a grin.

Kakashi inclined his head a bit. "Not vocally anyway. Then again I am not most students and you are not most students. So what's your answer?"

Naruto growled again, the sound rumbling from deep in his chest. After a moment he quieted. "Fine, I submit." The teen said with a bit of anger, and a good quantity of disappointment.

Kakashi nodded in acceptance and spun the knives in his hands as he pulled them from the genin's neck and place the back in his weapons pouch. "Don't feel so bad about your loss, you really pushed me and I'm one of the strongest jonin in the village."

As he said this Kakashi also realized something, a genin had actually made him try! Granted Naruto was no ordinary genin but still!

'_Man, I've really let myself go haven't I?' _The jonin mused as he heard the clock alarm go off in the distance.

"Well, that's that. Come along Naruto, it's time you heard the results of our little 'test'." The jonin said with a bright tone.

Naruto, still a little upset over his loss, merely grunted before hefting his scythe and following the jonin back to where they started.

A few minutes later all of Team seven found themselves arrayed around the logs in the ground. Sasuke sat on top of the first crouched on top like some sort of strange bird. Naruto leaned on the third with his scythe folded up and held tightly to his chest. Sakura stood bound by rope to the center pole. Thankfully Kakashi had had the good sense to lay a silencing seal over her lips to keep the others eardrums intact.

"Well I've got good news and bad news." Kakashi drawled.

"What's the bad news?" Sasuke asked after a moment.

"None of you will be going back to the academy." Kakashi replied.

Naruto's eyes narrowed a bit but said nothing. Sasuke just raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"In my professional opinion all three of you should quit being shinobi entirely." The jonin explained in his monotone voice.

All three genin hopefuls stared at the jonin with varying levels of shock.

In a burst of rage Sasuke leapt off his perch and charged Kakashi. In a swirl of leaves though Sasuke lay pinned beneath the older shinobi.

Kakashi's visible eye narrowed making his normally bored expression into something rather disturbing. "None of you got the real purpose of this test at all."

"And what purpose would that be?" Naruto inquired.

The jonin's glare somehow worsened. "Simple. It's… teamwork. Together two of you might have gotten the bells, all three of you together would certainly have managed to do so."

Sakura looked like she was dying to speak, so Kakashi made a single sign allowing the seal to fall away.

"But sensei, there are only two bells, wouldn't one of us have failed anyway?" the kunoichi yelled.

Kakashi just rolled his eye and replied. "Of course! This test is designed to make you fight amongst yourselves. If you can set aside your personal goals and work together in this test you can do so anywhere."

Once more the look in his eyes changed to a far more piercing glare than his previous one. "Naruto, Sasuke, you both challenged me by yourselves completely ignoring you teammates. Sakura, you went looking for Sasuke though you had no idea where he was and so walked right into my trap.

All three looked suitably humbled.

"Having skills as an individual ninja is important, but when that fails teamwork won't. Playing the lone hero can get both you and your teammates killed." The older shinobi looked at a small square stone nearby with a sad expression for a moment before turning back to his charges. "I'll give you three one more chance after lunch."

He handed the two lunch boxes to Naruto and Sasuke. "You two may eat, however since Sakura didn't do anything she gets nothing, and don't even think of feeding her. If you do, I'll fail you all."

With his piece said the jonin disappeared.

As Naruto and Sasuke opened their lunches Sakura stared at the food longingly, her hunger obvious in her eyes. Sasuke pointedly ignored her and focused on his own meal. Naruto on the other hand looked at the kunoichi with a small amount of pity. He knew how it felt to watch others eat while going hungry yourself.

With a small sigh Naruto placed his lunch into Sakura's hands.

The pink haired genin looked at him strangely. "What are you doing Naruto?

"We are going to need all the strength we can get to take those bells." He replied.

"What about you?"

"I had a big breakfast."

"But sensei said-"

"Yet he didn't stop me this morning and he's not stopping me now. So just take it and eat."

A tiny smile appeared on the Kunoichi's face. While Sasuke just sat and did nothing.

Suddenly Kakashi appeared before them in a cloud of smoke. "We're done here." Taking out his kunai the jonin cut Sakura free.

Said kunoichi looked up at the jonin's expressionless face. "So did we pass?'

Kakashi sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. "I haven't decided yet. You'll get a message telling you if you passed or not in the morning."

With that he disappeared once more leaving the three to find their own ways home.

4:00 PM

The old Hokage surveyed the jonin before him. Each one of them had been assigned a team of three genin to test for readiness. Now it was time for the jonin to report who had passed and who had failed.

Strangely Kakashi was for once on time. Currently he stood in the corner of the office quietly musing to himself.

Hiruzen sighed and motioned for the jonin to begin.

"Team one, failed."

"Team two, passed."

"Team three, passed"

"Team four, failed. Miserably, I might add."

"Team six, passed."

"…"

Everyone looked expectantly at the cycloptic jonin waiting for his report. Instead he just waved them on, apparently he wasn't done thinking.

"Team eight, passed."

"Team ten, passed."

The Hokage nodded before looking back at Kakashi and coughing lightly in his hand. "Kakashi, what of team seven?"

The jonin ran his hand through his hair before answering. "Team seven failed."

The Hokage was taken back for a moment but marked his paper before rising. "Thank you all. I expect to see those who passed tomorrow morning ready for missions. You're dismissed."

The jonin saluted before beginning to file through the door.

"Kakashi, please stay. I want to have a word with you." Sarutobi said in a commanding tone.

Once the other jonin had left the room the old warrior made a strange gesture and four hidden ANBU suddenly revealed themselves before exiting. The aged leader then motioned for the jonin to take a seat.

The Hokage pulled out his pipe, lit it, and took a few deep draws before speaking. "I hope you realize the shit storm you've brought upon yourself Kakashi. The council is going to throw a fit because of you."

For a moment Kakashi was silent. "Permission to speak freely sir?"

The Hokage raised a brow but nodded.

"What the fuck were you thinking?"

The old man almost choked on his pipe. "What?"

"There is no way in hell this team would ever work together. They're almost designed to fail."

"How so?"

"Well let's start with Sakura. A useless fangirl with no skills what so ever. She fell for one of my absolute most basic genjutsu. She may be smart but she lacks any and all real world skills. Then we have Sasuke. A revenge obsessed little pain. He may be more skilled than most genin, maybe even some chunin, but he lacks control over himself, and has absolutely no regard for his comrades whatsoever."

"And what of Naruto?"

"I'm honestly not sure. From the way he approached our battle I'm guessing he was more trained to be a warrior rather than a shinobi. Don't get me wrong, he is quite skilled, but he seems to lack subtlety, but he would make a powerful assault shinobi. And of the three he seemed to be the only one willing to work with the others."

"So essentially Naruto passed your test but the others didn't? Is this correct?"

"For all intents and purposes, yes."

Sarutobi pulled long and hard on his pipe before releasing a large stream of smoke with a sigh. "So, it worked."

This time it was Kakashi who was caught by surprise. "Excuse me?"

The Hokage smiled like a fox. "Oh please you don't think I'm actually stupid enough to think that team would work. No, I just need a way to prove that Naruto was capable while satisfying the council's requirement that he be treated no differently."

"So… Now what?"

Sarutobi exhaled another stream of smoke. "Simple. I have an assignment for you."

"And what is my assignment?"

"You are to act as Naruto Tepes' master in the shinobi arts."

"What would that entail?"

"Find ways for him to fit in amongst the rest of our forces. As he is not actually loyal to the village, but instead to me, you and he will make up a two man squad under my direct command. Beyond that though I still expect that you will train him to the best of your abilities. Do you understand?"

A wicked gleam appeared in Kakashi's eye. "I accept."

A similarly wicked smirk appeared on the hokage's wizened face. "Good, then I expect to see you both here at 9 AM sharp. Understood?"

Kakashi stood and bowed before exiting the room.

As the door shut the Hokage spun in his chair and looked out upon the village. _'Let's see how the world fares with a demon of its own making!'_

* * *

**What will be the Hokage's command?**

**What kind of missions will Naruto have to do to fulfill his promise?**

**Why am I out of Mountain Dew again?**

**All of these questions and more might be answered in the next chapter!**

**Until then...Read...Review...Visit my Youtube channel!**

**No seriously visit my Youtube channel! Psycho's Anonymous!**


	10. Chapter 10

**I HAVE... ... ... RETURNED**

**That's right I'm not dead. I know, I can't believe it either. I would normally apologize for the time this took to write but several people have been constantly sending me PM's complaining about my lack of updates. To them I have this to say...**

**I HAVE A LIFE!**

**I do other things beside read and write all day.**

**Also don't complain about this one being short and rather dull. The next chapter will be pretty much all action. I promise.**

**Enough of that though...**

**It's time for...**

**Review Replies!**

**Krazyfanfiction1: As always thank you and I shall. Starting (or restarting) now.**

**Asurau: I'm glad you think so.**

**RandomWriter21: Unfortunately you wont see anything on your list in this chapter. You will eventually though.**

**DarkRift6709: I agree the fight between Naruto and Hidan should be very entertaining to say the least.**

**Twisted Pxl: I will admit they aren't my favorite characters, but I did what I did for better reasons than that.**

**snikpmot1994: No insanity was the correct term.**

**GokuSS400: Finally someone mentions my Kurama bits! I was starting to think no one liked them!**

**alucard the crimson fucker: Again im not apologizing for the update time. I do love your name though. Are you on Twitter?**

**Enough of that! Time for plot!**

**Please enjoy the product of my Hawaiian Punch and Brownie induced hallucinations!**

**Disclaimer: Turns out you cant trade a soul for legal rights. I no longer own my soul.**

* * *

In the underworld mountains were not an unusual sight. In truth mountains were the most common form of topography. That's not to say that all of them are the same of course. Some were short and round, worn away by eons of wind and weather, others stood like great pyramids over surrounding flatlands, and still others stood like great walls of stone fangs.

On one of these fang like mountains stood a rather peculiar fortress, even by underworld standards. Most engineers would build a fortress into the mountain as a way of making sure one side was always secure. Whoever, or whatever designed this fortress was obviously not normal. Rather than leaning into the mountain side the fort stuck out away from the mountain like a sore thumb.

The keep itself was just as strange as its positioning. It was comprised of five square levels, each offset from the one below it creating a series of triangular courtyards. At the top stood a single spear like tower with a lit beacon at the top.

On this particular day a cloaked figure rode up to the barred gates.

"Halt! State your business here stranger!" A guard wearing grey armor shouted down from atop the wall.

The voice retorted in a dry raspy voice from beneath the cloak he wore. "Your Lady is expecting me. She and I have important business to discuss."

"Very well. Stay where you are while we check with the mistress. Try anything, and you will die, no matter what your business is." One guard called down to the cloaked rider.

The rider chuckled under his breath. "I wouldn't dream of it."

Some minutes later the gates opened and the rider rode through. As he rode through the various courtyards and inner gates of the fortress he mentally assessed the number of troops and their positions out of habit. He had to admit that even with his level of skill entering undetected would be incredibly difficult.

Reaching the towers base the cloaked figure dismounted and entered. After ten minutes of continuous stair climbing he reached the top of the tower and was confronted by a single nondescript wooden door. The figure composed himself before softly knocking.

"You may enter." A feminine voice replied.

The figure opened the door and entered a large study. Against one wall was a large wing-backed leather chair behind an equally large wooden desk covered in papers. In the center of the room was a small wooden table with three chairs arranged to face the desk. Leaning over said table was a woman peering intently at what appeared to be a large map.

"My Lady I have arrived with the information you requested." The figure said quietly.

The woman looked up revealing her smoldering golden eyes. A thin smile graced her bloodless lips. "Ah, good. I assume that you were successful and that your contacts possessed our info?"

The figure removed his hood revealing a bald man of dark skin with a number of scars crisscrossing his face. "I was only partially successful Lady Caal, my contacts only knew some of what we were after." From with his cloak he produced a small packet of papers and placed them on the table.

The Lady of the Gangrel growled quietly before calmly standing and moving behind her desk. She sat in her chair and folded her hands before her face before nodding slightly. "Very well. What have you brought me Da'Muin?"

Da'Muin spoke quickly and concisely in his dry raspy voice. "My source indicate that the king summoned Poenari a few miles outside a large town locally known as Konohagakure no Sato, or 'The Village Hidden in the Leaves. According to other sources a number of the Blackswords accompanied him though we are unsure of the exact number."

Lady Aryah raised a hand to halt his speech for a moment. "How far outside the village?'

Da'Muin checked his papers. "Approximately nine miles."

"Would this distance allow us to attack without the village noticing?" Lady Caal asked.

"Possibly but not likely. Were this any other village I would say yes but the warriors of this realm are rather paranoid. I would expect their patrols to extend at least double the distance." Da'Muin replied.

"Hmmm… What about an infiltration?" Aryah commented.

The male thought for a moment before looking at his papers again. "I believe that would fail. We don't know how many Blackswords are present nor how many locals could be around at any given time. Beyond that neither the Malkavian Wire-Weaver nor the LeSambre Black Dragon have been seen since the King vanished. It is likely they accompanied him."

Lady Caal sighed deeply. "Very well, continue with your report."

"My contacts indicate that any attempt to attack the village would be an even worse idea than assaulting the fortress directly. While our warriors are skilled the 'shinobi' of Konoha are just as good and we would be fighting them on their own turf."

"Could we beat them?"

"Yes, but with heavy losses."

"Leaving us exposed to Level 0."

"The Malkavian representatives assure me that the countermeasures will be effective."

Aryah snorted in distaste. "Those quacks say a lot of things. I'm not basing my plans of an unknown. What else do we know?"

"Konoha has a great many enemies but few are willing to move openly against the village. Apparently of the five major military powers Konoha is the strongest."

"Does the village have any weak points?"

"None that are currently known."

"Anything else?"

"A list of those who are considered enemies of Konoha. But otherwise no. The village is surprisingly good at keeping its secrets."

Lady Aryah sat and thought for a moment. "So the only way to get to the King is through Konoha, correct?"

"Yes."

"But we lack the military might to defeat them ourselves."

"Yes."

She stared at him for a moment or two. "Well then that means we have to find a good source of cannon fodder. I'm assuming you have one in mind already."

Da'Muin smiled like a madman as he withdrew a picture from the folder a placed it upon the desk.

Aryah picked up the picture and looked at the man in it. He was a thin and pale man with long black hair and reptilian eyes. "And who is this?"

Da'Muin smiled in his mad way. "That my Lady, is Orochimaru…"

* * *

Hiruzen Sarutobi could be called a great many things, the professor, the Kami no Shinobi, the Third Hokage, or the mighty monkey as his friends sometimes call him. You could call him anyone of these things and you'd be calling him be his name. He was all of these things and more. He was a survivor of all three shinobi wars, master of the arts of politics and power. He was many, many things.

However at the moment only one word could be properly used to describe him, annoyed.

It should be noted however that the fact that he was only annoyed is a great example of exactly why he deserved all the titles he had. If he were anyone else he probably would've gone completely apeshit crazy by this point. However thanks to his impeccable self-control and copious amounts of tobacco he kept his cool. However even with all of that he was quickly losing patience with the three people standing on the other side of his desk.

The three in question were the so-called esteemed elders of Konoha, Koharu Utatane, Homura Mitokado, and Danzo Shimura. Like the Sandaime all three had survived all of the ninja wars and had had all been part of his squad at one point. Due to their experience in all things ninja Hiruzen looked to them for second opinions from time to time. Unfortunately due to their positions and interactions with the Hokage they had come to believe that they and their opinions were indispensable.

Currently they were trying to convince their old friend to allow Sasuke Uchiha to become a genin despite failing Kakashi's bell test. Hiruzen thought it a little strange that Danzo was actually supporting the idea. The old war hawk had always distrusted the Uchiha, so to see him actively supporting one was a bit of a shocker.

"Sarutobi, we must keep the Uchiha within Konoha. The sharingan is simply too powerful of a weapon to allow any of our enemies to get their hands on it." Homura said as the three began wrapping up their discussion.

"You must realize that boy has only his revenge in mind. If we cannot provide him with the tools to reach his goal he will go to someone who will." Koharu finished.

Homura added, "The boy may be a brat, but he's a valuable brat. We need to do all we can to keep him here and loyal."

Sarutobi grunted as he took a deep pull from his pipe. He looked at the last person in the room. "What's your take on this Danzo? It's unlike you to support an Uchiha."

Danzo huffed. "Don't mistake this for a change in heart Sarutobi, I don't trust any Uchiha and I never will. However I will admit that the sharingan is a powerful weapon, far too powerful for any of our enemies to be allowed to possess it. If we cannot have it we must make sure no one can."

Sarutobi raised an eyebrow. "Are you suggesting we eliminate the boy?"

"If we cannot control him, yes." Danzo replied.

Homura and Koharu looked horrified.

Koharu voiced her thoughts first. "You can't be serious Hiruzen! That boy is the only chance we have of keeping the sharingan in this village, and you're talking about executing him! I would expect this sort of thing from Danzo but not you!"

The Hokage steepled his hands and looked at his old friends from the shadow of his hat. "First off it's 'Hokage' to you. Secondly, I have to admit that Danzo is correct in this instance. The sharingan is too powerful for us to simply allow the boy to leave. At the same I cannot allow him to join our forces if he cannot act properly. I will do whatever is necessary to protect this village and those who live within it. If that means executing the last Uchiha then I will do it." He sighed. "That said I'd rather it not come to that. If you want to see the Uchiha as a shinobi of Konoha you have one month to find him a team and a sensei who will work with him. That's all I will say on this matter. You're dismissed."

The three elders bowed slightly before filing out the door. As the door shut behind them the old warrior turned his chair to stare out at the village he had protected for so long.

'_These are the moments when I truly hate this job. Sometimes I feel as if I do more evil than good. I'm getting far too old and far too tired for this kind of shit, but there is no one ready to bear this burden just yet.'_ The old leader mused as he puffed on his pipe.

Thankfully his dark thoughts were disturbed by the buzzing of the intercom.

"Lord Hokage, Jonin Hatake and genin Tepes are here to see you." The secretary announced.

A small smile graced the Hokage's weathered face. "Very good. Please send them in."

The great oak doors to the office opened slightly allowing the shinobi to enter. As usual Kakashi had his nose buried in his ever present book. Naruto on the other hand simply looked confused. Thus it was no great surprise when Naruto spoke first.

"What the heck is going on old ma- I mean Lord Hokage?" Naruto blurted

Sarutobi chuckled a bit. "I don't mind you calling me what I am Naruto. Just don't do it in front of everybody."

Naruto nodded. "Oh, thanks. Just don't tell my dad I said that, I'd get in a lot of trouble. Still, where are the others?"

A nearly imperceptible smirk appeared on the Hokage's weathered visage. "There are no others Naruto. Sasuke and Sakura did not pass your sensei's test whereas you did. Thus you are here and they are not."

Naruto's eyes narrowed a bit. "That was a team test though, so if two members of the team failed wouldn't the whole team fail?"

Sarutobi's smirk grew more pronounced as he raised a finger to interrupt. "You are quite correct. Team 7 did indeed fail the Team test so this year there is no Team 7. However Jonin Hatake was so impressed by your skills during the test that he has requested that you become his apprentice."

Naruto was silent for a few moments as he thought about what he was just told. "Alright, so what's the real story?"

The Hokage's eyebrow shot up in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Naruto's eyes hardened and his posture straightened. In an instant Naruto the excitable genin was gone and the prince of vampires appeared. "Don't lie to me old man. I learned more than just how to fight from my father. No decision made by those in power is ever as simple as it looks. The apprenticeship thing was just what you told the council to keep them quiet. I want the real reason."

The smirk erupted into a cold smile. "Though I'm glad that you understand the realities of leadership it also saddens me to know that you how dark the world is. In any case, I placed you and Kakashi on a team by yourselves because of your request Naruto."

This time it was Naruto's turn to raise an eyebrow.

The old man tilted his head so that his hat shadowed his eyes once more. "You told me that you would be a shinobi only if you were under my direct command. If you were on any normal team you would be under the command of that mission's client. Thus I am making you two an ANBU squad under my direct command."

Kakashi smirked under his mask as he put his book back into his equipment pouch. "It's good to see that 'the Professor' can still live up to his name."

Said 'Professor' glared at the jonin. "That had better not have been a joke about my age Kakashi. If it was I know of a certain cat…"

Kakashi paled and quickly brought up his hands defensively.

Sarutobi nodded before returning his attention to Naruto. "As your first assignment you are to spend the next week training both your teamwork and yourselves. Kakashi I want you back to full strength and Naruto to be at mid-chunin by the end of the mission. When your mission time is complete you are to return for your next assignment. Understood?"

Both shinobi nodded in the affirmative.

The Hokage then handed them each a slip of paper with a complex design. "These are seal keys to training area 52. There is a cabin on the premise fully stocked with supplies."

"Thank you Lord Hokage." Naruto said with a light bow.

The old warrior just smiled and waved them off.

* * *

Just over an hour and a half later the two silver haired shinobi found themselves in training ground 52, which looked almost exactly the same as training ground 7 but without the memorial stone. Well that, and the seal barrier around it. But that was only there because this ground was normally used by ANBU units.

Kakashi turned to Naruto with an intense look in his visible eye. "Alright Naruto, before we start our training, you and I need to have a serious talk."

"Our training? Why the heck do you need to train? You trounced me!" Naruto asked.

Kakashi sighed and scratched the back of his head. "Because honestly I'm nowhere near as strong as I was a few years ago. During my fight with you I had to push myself to fight you, a genin." Naruto gained an insulted expression. "Granted you're probably closer to chunin but still. It showed me just how far I've fallen since my ANBU days."

Naruto was still scowling a bit. "So you were holding back?"

"Not intentionally, but yeah." Kakashi replied honestly.

Naruto's expression quickly went from anger to fear. "Whatever you do, I beg you, don't let my father know you were holding back."

Kakashi sounded a bit surprised. "I take it he didn't take your defeat well?"

Naruto just nodded mutely.

(Flashback)

Naruto passed through the front gate of his home with his head hung low with shame. When Seras came to greet her son his dejected look almost broke her unbeating heart.

Thick lines of crimson trailed from his eyes to his jawline and from there onto his clothes. He was crying blood.

Seras ran to her son in a burst of speed and in a display of strength carried him from the front hall all the way to his room near the top of the keep. Or rather that's what the maternal part of her wanted to do.

She wanted to comfort her son, but she knew his pride as both a prince and as a teen wouldn't let him accept such things. In the end she hugged him tightly and gave him a kerchief to wipe away his crimson tears before letting him go on his way.

In truth he wasn't crying from sadness. No, his tears came from a combination of rage at his loss to Kakashi, and fear of his father's reaction to that loss. Neither Alucard nor Vladimir Tepes were known to be highly forgiving of failure.

So he stood outside the door to the throne room and steeled himself the best he could for the reaction he knew was coming.

Shoving the huge doors to the throne room wide open Naruto strode in to meet his father with his head held high. On the outside he looked and acted exactly as his station demanded, cold, uncaring, and just a bit arrogant. On the inside though he was a nervous wreck, he was beyond terrified of his father's reaction. But he kept his fear in check and went down on one knee before his king.

"How went the fight Naruto?" Vladimir asked in a deceptively calm voice.

The silver haired prince suddenly lost the ability to speak and could only swallow nervously as his father stared down at him.

"Were you victorious over your foe?" The king asked with a venomous undertone.

Naruto swallowed once more. Summoning all of his considerable courage he spoke the words he so desperately wished he didn't have to say.

"N-no father. I was d-defeated."

The older vampire said nothing for a few moments as he continued to stare. "What sort of technique were you defeated by?"

Naruto blinked. "W-what do you mean?"

The counts brow furrowed as his eyes sharpened. "What kind of technique were you defeated by? Sword, jutsu, what form of technique defeated you?"

Naruto thought for a moment before replying in a quiet tone as he lowered his eyes to the floor. "I was not defeated by any technique father. The man simply outfought me."

Silence reigned for a few moments.

"You were, outfought?" Vladimir asked incredulously.

Naruto simply nodded his head but said nothing.

Suddenly the air became thick and heavy like a heavy woolen blanket had been draped over his entire body.

"You allowed yourself to be defeated in single combat by a human!?" the king hissed. His rage palpable.

Once more Naruto could only nod.

The king's rage suddenly and violently exploded, black demonic energy began rolling off him in waves. "You allowed yourself to be defeated by a human who did not even use a special technique!? How dare you consider yourself a night lord! You're a disgrace to my blood!"

Naruto attempted to defend himself against his fathers rage. "Father, I did all I could bu-"

"I don't care what you did or did not do! You were defeated!" With a snarl he reined in his anger. "Leave me, until I call for you once more."

Nodding quickly Naruto all but ran out the doors. He managed to get them closed just as his father roared to the heavens and released his rage once more. The massive doors did little to hide the sounds of destruction coming from the other side.

Even though part of him screamed at him to run far away, Naruto remained standing outside the doors. A half hour passed before the sounds of destruction ceased. Another ten minutes ticked by before Vladimir's voiced called.

The results of the king's rage were everywhere. To the side of the throne was a pile of twisted metal, the remains of several exquisite candelabras. The benches meant for quests lay against the walls in piles of splinters. Other bits of detritus also lay strewn about giving the room the look of a disaster zone.

Once more the king stared at Naruto from his throne, his eyes somehow cold despite their glowing red color.

"There will not be a repetition of this failure. Is that clear?" Vladimir growled.

Naruto nodded silently.

"Then get out of my sight."

(Flashback End)

Kakashi's visible eye took in Naruto's defeated expression.

"That's putting it mildly." Naruto said with a bit of a quaver to his voice.

Kakashi just nodded and looked at the setting sun. As this last part of the orb slipped beneath the horizon the jonin saw Naruto shiver out of the corner of his eye.

"What's it like?" the cyclops asked suddenly.

Naruto looked at his sensei with a bit of confusion.

Kakashi smirked a bit. "Oh come on don't play stupid. You know what I'm talking about."

Naruto huffed. "It's… different."

"That it? How underwhelming."

Naruto snorted. "Normally I don't feel any different than I did before. But other times, other times I'm scared."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "And what does the prince of vampires have to fear?"

"My father for the most part. He saved my life, and for that I'm thankful. I don't want to disappoint him. Even so he's pushing me to become something I'm not really sure I'm ready to be."

And what is it he wants you to be?

Naruto paused for a moment in thought. "He has very specific ideas on what the ideal vampire should be. I want to show him that I'm deserving of what he's done for me, but I don't want to become another version of him."

Kakashi nodded in understanding and said no more. The two silver haired shinobi stood silent for a few minutes just looking at the sky. Eventually the jonin sighed and straightened up out of his normal slouch.

"Well that's enough talking for me. How about a spar to shake off these dark thoughts?" Kakashi asked with an eye smile.

Naruto snorted in amusement but shifted his muscles in preparation. "And pray tell, how is a spar going to help this situation?"

Kakashi shrugged. "I'm not really sure myself. But I've always heard that-"

The jonin suddenly attacked swinging a previously concealed kunai towards his younger partner only for it to be intercepted by Crimson Moon's black metal haft.

"-Warriors communicate best with their fists." The jonin finished with a smile.

The younger combatant raised an eyebrow. "I think I've heard of that saying somewhere." As he spoke he fired his weapon spinning his scythe and forcing his opponent back. "However I think that it should be noted that you are using a kunai."

Kakashi attacked again with a series of thrusts keeping Naruto on the defense. "Eh, you're using a scythe, so what's your point? Besides,-"he struck out with his foot causing Naruto to leap back. "It's the thought that counts. And I want to see what you can do at night."

The young prince just rolled his eyes as he rushed his sensei.

To his surprise rather than leaping back Kakashi crouched and drew a second kunai. Naruto frowned in confusion but attacked anyway. A flurry of slashes, spins, and stabs appeared around the jonin, yet none of the attacks connected. Each strike was either blocked at the last instant by a kunai or dodged by a hairs breadth.

After a second or two of this a snap rang out as one of Kakashis kunais finally broke.

Seeing an opportunity Naruto attacked with increased vigor. But when Kakashi produced another kunai Naruto was thrown off. For a brief instant the jonin caught the head of Crimson Moon between his knives giving him the opportunity to mule kick Naruto in the chest.

As the young vampire flew back Kakashi took his chance and performed a few hand seals before rearing back his head. "Katon: Goukyaku!"

Bouncing off a tree Naruto dodged the rolling ball of fire. Only to have his sensei's heel intercept his face. The prince rolled across the ground for a moment before springing back to his feet and forming a few seals of his own.

"Onipou: Goka"

Another fireball roared across the training ground. Kakashi simply smirked a bit and weaved a few more handsigns in response.

"Doton: Doryuheki"

Naruto's fireball crashed against the wall of hardened earth that suddenly erupted from the ground in front of Kakashi.

Rolling to the side Kakashi brought one hand to his mouth.

"Suiton: Teppodama!"

Three melon sized water bullets went flying at Naruto at high speed. Using his vampiric speed though Naruto was easily able to evade them. As he did his hand blurred into motion.

"Onipou: Kazeshini!"

Swinging his scythe wildly Naruto created a web of deadly winds and launched them at his wily opponent. The jonin tried to dodge, but the blades of wind were too many and one slashed him across the chest. As a smirk began to cross Naruto's face 'Kakashi' erupted in a cloud of smoke revealing a heavily scarred log.

A whistle of displaced air was all the warning the young prince got as Kakashi appeared behind him, kunai already in motion. Naruto ducked and spun on one foot slamming his scythes counter-weight into the jonin's side.

The older shinobi just grunted and wrapped his arm around the weapons haft before yanking on it pulling Naruto directly into another powerful kick. The whiplash from the jonin's kick caused Naruto to release his hold on his weapon and go flying back once more.

And just like last time Kakashi took the moment of reprieve to use a jutsu.

"Katon: Housenka!"

Naruto skidded to a halt only to look up and be confronted be a swarm of small fireballs. Twisting and turning he attempted to dodge each and every one. When the barrage ended he emerged from the dust with part of his coat scorched but the rest of him untouched.

Kakashi called out to his opponent. "Oh come on now, this can't be it! What else you got to show me Naruto?" he taunted.

Naruto snarled and seemed to punch the air in front of him. A small ripple in the grass rushed towards the jonin. When it reached him the cyclops was thrown of his feet by the sudden impact.

A quick acrobatic flip landed the experienced warrior back on his feet just in time for Naruto to appear before him arm extended. The jonin batted the attack aside with his forearm but was unable to stop the following haymaker from plowing into his ribs.

In response the jonin spun with the strike and drove an elbow into the side of Naruto's head. Unable to effectively counter the attack Naruto fell to the ground. The moment his arms touch dirt though he pushed himself into a handstand and spun his legs in a circle driving Kakashi back long enough for him to regain his stance.

When he looked up at his opponent he found the cyclopean jonin standing with one hand on his chin in a thinking pose.

"Well, that was certainly enlightening." Kakashi said with an eye smile. "I think that's enough for today."

The clearing was silent for a minute.

"What!?" Naruto shouted.

"Not so loud there Naruto. Some of us do like our hearing, you know?" Kakashi remarked with a teasing tone.

"What do you mean that's enough? Our fights not over yet!" Naruto exclaimed.

"And why not?" Kakashi asked tilting his head.

"No one won!"

Now Kakashi seemed genuinely confused. "So?"

"The fights not over until somebody wins!" Naruto stated like it was perfectly obvious.

"Ah, I see." Kakashi said with a nod. "Well then it's a good thing this was a spar and not an actual fight then isn't it?"

"What's the difference?" Naruto huffed. "A fight is a fight, no matter what you call it."

The older shinobi sighed and shook his head. He turned to Naruto with a serious expression. "Look Naruto, not all fights have to have a winner and a loser. Spars aren't supposed to be about that. A spar is just a different kind of learning experience. I don't know how spars work where you were, but around here, a spar is just a friendly test of skill."

"Fine, whatever." Naruto grumbled as he walked over to his weapon.

Once his scythe was securely folded up and attached to its holster Naruto walked over to his sensei as the jonin leaned against a tree.

Naruto sat down and leaned against another tree facing his new sensei. "So what did you learn?" he blurted.

Kakashi turned and looked at him. "Excuse me?"

"Well, you said this was supposed to be a learning experience. So what did you learn?" Naruto responded.

The jonin looked up at the darkening sky for a moment before replying. "Well, I now know that after dark you are one hell of a fighter. You could beat most of the chunins I know. Even so, against someone like me your odds of victor are pretty slim."

Naruto inhaled to make a retort but Kakashi beat him to the punch.

"Now I'm not saying this to be mean, it's just that you are what I would consider a focus fighter." Kakashi said slightly defensively.

"A what?"

The cyclops scratched the back of his neck as he replied. "It means that you are very good in a few things, but you lack tactical flexibility. Your skills with that scythe are nothing to sneeze at, but if someone knows how to fight and beat a weapon like that, you're out of luck. The same thing could be said of your, spells, if your opponent isn't expecting them they would be a nasty surprise. That said, most jonin are capable of using a wide variety of jutsu, canceling out your own arsenal. With me so far?"

Naruto scowled but nodded. He didn't like how Kakashi was pretty much saying all his abilities were useless but at the same time he knew it was necessary to know these things.

"Good because that was the good news." Kakashi stated flatly. "During that fight I found two glaring weaknesses. First off, you are fast, incredibly so, but your moves are to direct. You never seem to use your speed to outflank your opponent. You just rush in and hack away. Trying that against an experienced enemy is a great way to get yourself killed. Secondly, you are far too reliant on your scythe in melee combat. Take it away and you go from a high chunin to a high genin at best."

"Are you saying I'm weak?" Naruto growled.

"Without your weapon, yes you are." Kakashi replied unfazed by Naruto's tone. "From what I saw, your taijutsu relies on speed and power to take down your opponent in a single blow before they have a chance to retaliate. You have the speed, but you lack the raw physical strength to make it truly effective. This combined with the fact that your style has a very weak defense means that, for the moment, without your weapon you aren't that much of a threat."

Naruto was seething!

'_How dare he say that!'_ Naruto ranted internally. _'I am not weak!'_

'_**Compared to him, yes you are kit.'**_ Kurama commented from within.

'_And what makes him stronger than me?'_

'_**Experience, kit, experience. That guy is a seasoned warrior, you can see it in his eyes. He's fought who knows how many enemies and emerged victorious each time. He knows what he's talking about. He has seen it before.'**_ The fox replied. _**'Remember, he's trying to help you.'**_

'_Fine.'_

Naruto calmed himself down before speaking his mind. "So if I have all these problems what do you suggest I do about them?"

The silver haired jonin smiled. "I'll show you. We've got one week to make ourselves as strong as we can, and I intend to complete this assignment with flying colors."

Naruto let out a resigned sigh before looking at his sensei. "Alright then, what do we do first?"

The jonins eye curved into a smile. "We train till we drop of course!"

* * *

At the end of the week the two silver headed shinobi stood before the Hokage in less than stellar condition. Naruto's coat was all but shredded, his boots crumpled and torn, his shirt was ripped and soiled and his pants had effectively become shorts. Kakashi wasn't in much better shape. His normally gravity defying silver hair lay limp and disheveled, his flak jacket was riddled with holes and tears, his sandals were missing and his pants were in the same category as Naruto's. They were not anywhere near pretty.

The Hokage stared at them and their state of attire for a moment. "I have seen long term reconnaissance teams report back looking better than you two. What did you do to yourselves?"

Naruto replied with a smirk. "We trained till we dropped, got up and then did it again."

The Sandaime just blinked and slowly shook his head. "I said train, not try and kill yourselves."

Kakashi shrugged. "It worked didn't it?"

Sarutobi looked up at the jonin. "I don't know, did it?"

The cyclops eye-smiled. "I believe it did."

"Very well then Kakashi I'll trust your judgement on this matter. You two are free for the rest of the day. Go home get some rest and report back here at nine o'clock this evening for your next mission. Understood?" The Hokage said with a small smile.

The two shinobi nodded and exited the room.

Once out of the tower Naruto all but sprinted home. Since there had been no coffin in the cabin in training area 52 he had been force to go a whole week without sleep. Though sleep was technically not necessary as he was undead his mind still needed the time to reboot, so while his body wasn't tired, mentally he was exhausted. Even as he ran he could feel his mind slowing down.

Reaching home he shot through the halls and rooms like a bullet. Reaching his room he quite literally ripped off what remained of his clothes since they were ruined anyway, and leapt into his coffin slamming the lid shut. Within a few minutes the exhausted boy was deep within the death sleep.

What felt to be a few minutes later, light assaulted the prince's tired eyes. Groaning he reached up to try and close the lid only to find that someone was holding it open. Slowly but surely Naruto cracked open his eyes to see his mother standing over him with one hand on the lid and the other on her waist.

"Mom? Close the lid I'm trying to sleep." He mumbled.

Seras crossed her arms as she looked at her son. "You've been sleeping for almost fourteen hours. Besides don't you have a meeting with the Hokage at nine?"

Naruto buried his head under a pillow as a mumbled, "Yeah," escaped his lips.

"Well then, I feel it is my duty as your mother to inform you that you are an hour late to that meeting." Seras stated with a tone of annoyance.

Naruto sat up almost instantaneously.

"What!" He shouted as he shot out of his coffin toward his closet. "Why didn't you wake me up earlier!?"

Seras watched calmly as her son went tearing through his wardrobe looking for something appropriate to wear. "I didn't know where you were. I didn't really think that you would sleep for as long as you did."

"This should've been the first place you looked!" Naruto responded as he pulled on a pair of black canvas slacks.

"I'll be sure to remember that for future reference."

"Please do! I don't really want to get in trouble with the old man!" Naruto stated as he pulled out a short black jacket.

Throwing the jacket over his shoulder Naruto snatched his scythe from its rack and proceeded to run all the way back to the Hokage's tower.

Entering the office he found himself alone with the Sandaime.

"Am I late?" Naruto said worriedly as he glanced around the room.

Sarutobi looked up from the small orange book he held and smiled. "Not at all Naruto, in fact you are a bit early."

Naruto blinked a few times. "But, you said to be here an hour ago. How am I early?"

The old man chuckled. "That was indeed what I said. In truth I meant for you to be here at around eleven. Kakashi tends to be around two hours late for mission briefings. So I tell him to show up two hours before I actually want him."

"Does he hate being on time or something?" Naruto asked.

Once more the old man chuckled. "No, it's just a habit he's picked up over the years. It's a bit annoying at times but compared to some of the other shinobi running around, he's fine."

Naruto just sighed and sat down across from the aged leader. "So what do we do in the meantime?"

Sarutobi opened a drawer and pulled a board out and placed it on the table. "Do you play Go?"

Around an hour later Kakashi arrived to find his leader angrily puffing away on his pipe while Naruto laughed.

Kakashi blinked for a moment. "Did I miss something important?"

The Hokage turned to Kakashi and glared at him. "Did you teach our young friend here to play Go during your week?"

"No… Why?" the jonin replied a bit startled.

"He just beat me four games in a row and yet he claims to have no idea how to play!" The old man huffed angrily.

"Ah, you're just being a sore loser!" Naruto declared with a smile.

The Hokage grumbled a bit before clearing his throat. "Enough of this. I have an assignment for you two to get your feet wet with."

"What's the mission?" Kakashi asked.

"Elimination." The aged leader stated coldly.

"The target?" the jonin asked.

"A bandit group we believe to contain some low level nuke-nin. I've not bothered with them as they haven't done anything to affect us. However their last raid hit a shipment of weapons from tetsu."

Naruto tilted his head. "Why are you sending us?"

"Deploying an ANBU team would be a gross misapplication of resources, the oinin have other targets to hunt, and no one is paying for the mission."

Kakashi spoke up before Naruto could ask another question. "We'll take it."

Sarutobi smiled and placed three objects on the desk. Two ANBU masks and the mission scroll. "All other relevant details are in that scroll. Kakashi you are being reactivated as Inu. Naruto you are Itachi. You are dismissed."

The two younger shinobi donned their masks and exited the room.

Once alone the old warrior turned to look out over the village. _'Show me how much of a demon you have become Naruto!'_

* * *

**What will happen on Naruto's first mission?**

**What will happen to Sasuke?**

**Do we care about the answer to the second question?**

**All of the questions and more may be answered in the next installment!**

**Stay tuned!**


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